Choi Si Won from KPOP boy band Super Junior is Social Messaging app LINE’s current ambassador. Born on 10 February 1987, Choi Si Won is 1.83m tall and has also acted in shows and movies such as Oh! My Lady, Skip Beat!, Athena: Goddess of War, A Battle of Wits, Spring Waltz.
We conducted an email interview with the Korean singer and actor. Si Won has been to Singapore previously for Super Show 4 last February and will be back in July for Super Show 5 concert.
Q: Super Junior M released their second album (in China) in January this year. What are some of the challenges you faced when you embarked on your China promotions with Super Junior M?
SW: Super Junior M has been together since 2007, so we are almost like real brothers. Of course, there are some members that I have been working together in Korea, such as Donghae, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook. However, other members from Super Junior M are my family too.
I am grateful to the native Chinese members who have helped me a lot when I was working in China.
Q: Do you experience any difference with Super Junior and Super Junior M?
SW: There are not much differences. Since I’ve been with both teams for a long time, all members are like my brothers. They are all good friends who support each other when we need some strength from stressful work. As I am traveling alone because of my solo schedules, I miss my team members.
Also, after managing busy schedules, I really miss them so much. Whenever I miss our time together, I use LINE free voice calling and talk to them. After talking with them and sending funny pictures to each other, I can somewhat release my stress for the day.
I think team members are the ones who give me the strength whenever I face difficulties. If there is one difference between Super Junior and Super Junior M, it would be the fact that we are more Chinese than Korean. The native Chinese members have been helping me a lot to improve my Mandarin.
Q. In the ‘King of drama’, you delivered a commendable performance playing a top celebrity with a prickly personality. Are there any aspects of your character in ‘king of drama’ that you can relate to?
SW: If there is any aspect my character that I can relate to myself, that would be humorous side of me. I have many different facial expressions. In fact, I have funny expressions and a playful side of me, but I don’t think I had many chance to share it with my fans. Though, I believe that my fans has recently started to notice the humorous side of me.
Q. Do you prefer singing or acting?
SW: I pursue my career in both acting and singing which are closely related. When you are singing, you need to know how to control your emotion just like acting. Also, when acting, you need to know about vocalization like singing. Since the two are connected, I never thought which is more special or better to me.
Q. You come from an affluent family background, what motivated you to act and sing?
SW: The source of my strength in my life is my supportive and loving parents, friends and fans.
Q. What does your family think of your commercial success and with your hectic schedule, how do you keep in touch with them?
SW: I always feel sorry to my family since I cannot spend enough time with them. They also miss me a lot. However, my family is the biggest supporter of my life and career. When I am away from home for a long time, I keep in touch with my family through LINE. I send voice messages and pictures taken from LINE Camera to my friends and family. While sending each other funny voice messages and pictures, it feels like we became even closer emotionally, even though we are physically apart from each other.
Q. What are your thoughts on the increasing influence and crossover of Korean dramas and music to the rest of Asia including Singapore?
SW: The K-Pop culture is astounding here and I didn’t expect that! It’s amazing that so many people in Singapore actually appreciate the Korean culture and I’m not talking in terms of music only but also fashion! I enjoy what I do, I love to sing, I love to dance so being part of K-Pop is more than what I have always asked for.
Q. In 3 words, what is your impression of your Singapore fans?
SW: I think Singaporean fans are dynamic, varies and friendly. Just like LINE!
Q. How has LINE and mobile technology impacted your life and relationships?
SW: I often travel to other countries and I feel bad for not spending enough time with my friends and family. Thanks to social networking applications like LINE, I am so glad that I can communicate with my friends and family anywhere and anytime. I think it is very essential social tool for busy people like myself. LINE is also especially useful when it comes to communicating with fans overseas closing the gap between me and my fans because I can share what I am really like outside of stage.
Super Junior has recently launched LINE Official Account. Through OA, news on Super Junior is provided in real time. Also, the best part of it is that we can talk to our fans one-on-one when we are in ‘On-Air’ mode. When the ‘On-Air’ light is on our LINE account, it means that we are actually messaging to our fans
We are planning to go ‘On-Air’ sometime soon, and looking forward to have more interactive conversations with our fans in Singapore. I hope that Super Junior M opens its own Official Account to share more things with fans around the world.
Q. Do you think a long-distance romantic relationship is sustainable with the use of technology?
SW: In the recent LINE TV commercial, I acted as a boy friend in a long distance relationship. Of course, nothing beats being together. However, I believe that the technology can certainly help maintain a close and intimate relationship even though you are far away from your girlfriend or boyfriend.
In the advertisement, I played out a conversation with my TV Commercial girlfriend using cute LINE stickers. I would really want to try this in real life when I get a girlfriend. By sending cute LINE stickers and voice message, I believe it would be very fun and convenient to keep in touch no matter how far part in distance.
Q. What are some of your goals for the near future?
SW: I cannot share the specific plan of my future project right now. However, I would like to share and give back all the love and interest I have received from my fans around the world.
Q. Do you use more stickers or words when using Line assuming you only communicate in Korean?
SW: I first learned about LINE when one of my best friends showed me one of the main character stickers. Cute! And I became a big fan, using stickers all the time because they help a shy person like me communicate my feelings and emotions better than words. They help me express some of the words I’ve been holding back from my friends and family.
Talking only with stickers has become a trend among Super Junior members. Here are some of my favourites.
