Yunho The Celebrity Interview
I translated the following two Japanese translations into English. I combined some part. The last part concerning his philosophy was a bit hard to translate. The original did not make much sense to me.

By Peaker (@tmvlzj26) http://ameblo.jp/tmvlzj26/entry-11697466860.html
By @ymamylim

Q. You have been a leader of the best (top) Asian group for 10 years. If you look back, you must be feeling emotional.
YH: I have been a leader of TVXQ. I think I have changed a lot. I had to make my friends (who had lived separate lives before we became a group) work together. In the beginning, I kept thinking about just doing my best. As time goes by, I’ve started to think differently. Okay, this time I should let them do whatever they want to do or it’s not that easy to make people work together. It was really hard for me when I was young. But I think I was able to grow up as a person.

Q. I am really interested in knowing what part do you feel that you grew up as a person?
YH: When I look back, we had experienced many things. I am grateful to everything.. everything that made me realize that I need to pay attention things and people around me. I am especially grateful to the staffs who have been working with us. It’s not just me, or us, the team work is so very important. It’s really important that we work together.

Q. Okay then, what is the relationship between Uknow-Yunho and Jung Yunho?
YH: I started to have social life way earlier than the ordinary people. Because of that, Uknow-Yunho behaves/talks as if he were a lot mature than his age. The entertainment business has to deal with people, so he learned very quickly that sometimes he needs to make compromise, sometimes he can push things harder. I feel that a boy named Jung Yunho’s life has stopped at his high school era. A new character, Uknow-Yunho has created.

Q. That has some deep meaning. You said, Jung Yunho’s time has stopped and then a new life as Uknow-Yunho was born.
YH: U-Know Yunho needs to deal with a mass of people, and he is quite busy with his work. He needs to keep his dignity and image as a leader. But Jung Yunho is an innocent and optimistic child. However, both of them have a very positive personality.

Q. For the past 10 years, I believe you have a lot of flashback of memories. If you are going to choose the very best time of your career, when is it?
YH: It is on stage. I am the happiest person when I am on stage. The most memorable stage is when I was with Changmin as a duo for the first time at SMTOWN in 2010. After coming back to the entertainment business as a TVXQ, just two of us, Uknow-Yunho and Changmin, everything was overwhelming. But the moment was the sign (signal) for brand new lives for both of us. It was a new beginning and also we felt that we were starting our careers all over again.

Q. There were an incredible number of fans watching you two. How did you feel about that?
YH: My fear before going up to the stage disappeared immediately and completely. Since the moment, TVXQ has erased past records completely and we have keep breaking records and moving forwards. The record of Tokyo dome.. we had 850,000 audiences for the Japanese tour. Every time we break a new record, the more pressure we put on ourselves. It's the most difficult thing in the world that we need to break our own records. It is a battle against us. The very beginning of this never-ending battle was the 2010 SMTOWN stage. So I can never forget it.

Q. Can you tell us another memorable moment?
YH: Perhaps the Tokyo Dome stage. I cried for the first time on stage (Did not he cry on stage before that?). I did not cry even we won the best award. That is all because I made a promise with my grandfather. The promise is it’s okay to cry when I reach to the very best place. Every time when I was overwhelmed by emotion, I somehow managed not to cry. I cried at that very moment, because I realized that its not just singing that I can give (offer) to fans. Philosophically, I realized that I needed to give back everything that I’ve received from fans as a public figure. Because I realized that, I cried.

Q. It must be so very hard to keep climbing up the ladder.
YH: I have a lot of conversation with my most respected father. Let’s assume that Mudeungsan, the mountain in my hometown, is the highest mountain. My father told me that once you climbed up the top of Mudeungsan, you can see the top of another mountain. Once we see the top of Mt. Paektu, I need to climb down Mudeungsan, then I need to start all over again to climb up Mt. Paektu. This will be never ending. You cannot see anything if you are in the middle of the mountain because you have clouds and fogs covering the top of other mountains. This is your life, my father said.

Q. How many times did you climb up and down mountains in your career as TVXQ?
YH: Although, I have a long career as a student before debut, TVXQ gained so much popularity at our first album. All of sudden, after releasing our first CD, we got to the top of the mountain. The experience in visiting Japan for the first time, made us realize that we are the new comers. We are already at the foothill of the mountain. Mudeungsan became much taller. We climbed up Mt. Paektu. We are now climbing up the Mt. Everest. If we are able to climb up a littler higher, I am confident that we should be able to see the wider world and the higher sky.

Q. What is your next goal?
YH: We are coming down the mountain a little and trying to figure out what we achieve the next. We actually want to make (create) a mountain itself. I think it is about my life. Perhaps it is music or perhaps it is my friendship with my friends. Or perhaps it’s an (musical) artist Jung-Yunho, an aspiring actor Jung-Yunho. These are the new mountains that I will be creating.

Q. Your audiences and fans gave you unconditional love. What do you think about it?
YH: Musician is a job where musician can be content when he/she receives love (from audiences and fans). You take the love for granted but you must return more, more than the love you received to the audiences and fans.

Q. When did you start to think this way?
YH: Since we debuted. Around 2006, we had some hard time. Even though I did not intend to make people dislike me or hurt people, some people will take things that way. I have no control for that. When I have some free time, I like to take a walk. While taking a walk, I watch/observe many people. It made me realize that there are so many people working so very hard.. much harder than me even though they are not making much money. Some people look content under the circumstances. Some people are sad because they are under privileged. Human life is like that. If I gain something, I need to give it to people. Once I give it to people, it will come back to me some day, even it takes a long time. As time goes by, I am more and more confident about my way of thinking.

Q. Is it your motto that you do not forget the feelings when you just started?
YH: Whenever I visit Guangju, I visit Sangam park. I visit there especially when I am overwhelmed by some difficulties and problems that I need to resolve. We have just cleared a huge hurdle (made a huge goal), but I have something very important in my mind that I have been thinking a lot lately. Whenever I am like this, I always remember how I was at the beginning of my career, I try my best to stay focused. It is not just me but I always think about my friends too when we did not have anything back then, we just practiced dance together only because we really loved dancing.

Q. You have come to the age that you are now older than most of other artists. When I interview others junior than you, they often refer to you as a role model. Can you give them some advices?
YH: I can tell them the same thing that I have been telling. If you do your best, you can do better, even a little, you can still do better. But it is really hard once you burn bridges with other people. If you can care more about people around you, you can express 100% of yourself but you may be able to express 200% of yourself. We live in the spotlight. You need to get used to it. It’s important to enjoy your life if you can. You gotta only one chance at each time. I think you can have a happy and enjoyable life, if you do your best and cherish the every moment, day by day.

Q. Do you worry about your status (position) when you see your juniors are getting more popular?
YH: It’s always a battle with myself. It has never been a battle with other people. It may sound a bit strange but when I meet with people in the entertainment business, I get excited, “wow, they are artists/singers/actors”. Because of that, I just keep challenging myself. For the junior people, all the systems have been improved and they have more talent. If we are going to challenge them, we must work very hard. Oh, this person is really good.. I need to practice harder. I also try to have fun on stage as much as I can. If you can think this way, you can be more optimistic and positive.

Q. Now the end of year is approaching, can you summarize what you think of your fans that love Uknow-Yunho of TVXQ?
YH: My relationship with my fans is intimate. Our bonds grew tighter. As time goes by, I feel that fans are another members of TVXQ. That is because, we cry, we feel each other, and we make TVXQ together. Sometimes I might have different feelings to fans but at the end, I feel that fans are part of the family of U-know-Yunho. I do not really to say anything, but my fans will understand what I am saying. We have the same wavelength.

Q. TVXQ has a lot of fans. Do you remember any particular fans in the last 10 years?
YH: I can talk about 100 or 1000 memorable fans. Personally, I talked to my fans like I am their oppa. If students come to the office very often, I think they should not come too often. I will tell them that they should study harder. I want to have relationship like that with my fans. As they support me, I want to support them and give them good influence but not bad one. The way I think of my fans has changed a lot.

Q. There are not many days left for 2013. I am curious what Uknow-Yunho as a musician will be thinking about before going to bed and waking up in the New Year?
YH: In reality, I have a busy schedule around that time, so it will be difficult to imagine what I will be thinking about. Every year has been like that. If I am able to finish all the work, come home, then I will look back this year. When I am alone, I look up the sealing and think about the things that I could have done in the better way. But this was the most meaningful year… or sometimes I think about some short come, I could have done it better.

Q. If you are going to regret some short come of this year, what will it be?
YH: It is definitely about my family. I am always worrying about my family. This is the very first year that I was a bit late to congratulate my mothers BD. I was abroad, and because of the time differences, I missed the timing (to call my mother). I visited her however, but I still regret that I missed the timing.

Q. Are there any principles in your life as Uknow-Yunho?
YH: I always take notes in order not to forget the things that I should never forget. I think that this is my first principle in my life. Before you make your decision, it is totally okay to wonder around and worry about. But once you made up your mind, you should not regret that you made the choice. You have to move your body, you have to put all your soul and effort into achieving the goal. If you could not make it and the result is not something that you had wished, you need to realize that that happened. That is the principle of Uknow-Yunho and the philosophy of Jung Yunho.

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