thank you god, for giving me a second chance to live - super junior kyuhyun’s miraculous rebirth.
After his serious accident in 2007, Kyuhyun’s father, who had originally opposed to his dreams of becoming a singer, insisted on not having surgery performed on his son’s throat. Behind that, was the support of a strong religious strength.
Editor’s note: This article was written according to Reporter Deng Guangjie’s interview with Kyuhyun’s father in Seoul, as well as an email interview with Kyuhyun himself."God controls everything that has happened in my life. I believe that how everything turned out was according to god’s wishes." Korean idol boy band singer, Super Junior’s Kyuhyun explains how religion plays a part in his life, in an email interview.
The influence of his mother’s prayersSuper Junior, who had performed at the Taipei Arena for three consecutive days from 10th August, had drawn about 30,000 fans. With catchy songs such as Sorry Sorry, Mr Simple, Sexy, Free & single among others, accompanied with dance moves and changes in team formation, they have won numerous awards since the band’s formation in 2005. Receiving the acknowledgement from consecutive Golden Disk Awards, MTV Asia awards, the MSN Popularity Award, many awards at the Mnet MAMAs, they have also topped the album sales in Korea for four years in a row. 25 year old Kyuhyun, was the last member to join Super Junior in May of 2006, is also the youngest member. He has the reputation of possessing very penetrating vocals.
Kyuhyun, whose full name is Cho Kyuhyun, who besides being in SJ-M, which is Super Junior’s sub-group for entering the Chinese market, he’s also in the vocalist sub-group KRY, and is also utilizing his talents in other sub-groups. Furthermore, he has also stepped into musical acting, and has since starred in musicals such as The Three Musketeers and Catch Me If You Can, receiving much praise for his performances. With his eloquence, he has recently also become an MC on Happy Sunday Mamma Mia and other television programmes.
The competition in the Korean entertainment industry is very intense, so what exactly is the supporting force behind allowing him to display his versatile talent and potential in this competitive environment in order to overcome the difficulties and challenges, and display such dazzling achievements? Kyuhyun replies, “Since I was young, my mother’s praying has constantly and deeply influenced my life. Hence, no matter what I am faced with, I am always grateful.” From the bible, “You are the light of the world”, “You are the salt of the Earth” (Matthew 5:13-14) are verses that give him strength.
Persistence in attending Sunday servicesThere are many devout Christians in Super Junior, including Eunhyuk, who enjoys praying, Siwon, who is nicknamed a missionary, as well as Donghae, who had received overwhelming positive responses to his prayers for Michael, a Taiwanese throat cancer patient. Kyuhyun was also born in a Christian household. Kyuhyun’s father, Cho Yonghwan is a Social Education professor at Korea University, and is also the Dean of the Korea UPI Academy. In an interview in Seoul, he expressed, “At a young age, Kyuhyun joined the church choir, he is a kind child.” Kyuhyun’s flair for singing was inherited from his mother, who has been volunteering with the church choir for almost 20 years.
When Kyuhyun was young, he attended the Yoido Full Gospel Church kindergarten, and had also received an award at the bible recitation competition as well as the Missionary Ministry Award. Even after graduating from high school, he would still return to the church for volunteer for shorter periods of time, he joined Super Junior after that. Kyuhyun father expressed, “Even when Kyuhyun was busy with his performing schedules, he would still try his best to attend Sunday service, and would hold on to his mother’s prayers, which have allowed him to grow spiritually.”
Not only back in Korea, but even when Kyuhyun was in Taiwan for his concert tour, he also took the time to attend Sunday service. According to Taipei Pure Gospel Church’s pastor Zhang Han Ye, he had noticed a youth wearing a cap, who would come to listen as he was delivering the sermons, and the person came quite a few quite times. He only realized later on that it was Kyuhyun. No one recognized that he was a celebrity. Kyuhyun said that he preferred it like that, because it would be better if people didn’t recognize him when he goes to the church to pray, that way he wouldn’t be interrupted in his prayers.
Even though he is a member of one of the most popular boy bands in Korea, and is always incredibly busy, Kyuhyun will always pray for five minutes before every performance. Kyuhyun, like Siwon, still follows the habits of Christians; donating rice to the needy via the church, and often calling upon their fans from all over the world. Super Junior has the most fans in Asia; Singapore, Japan, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia. Besides that, this year’s concert tour Super Show 5 had also gone as far as Brazil, Argentina and Chile. They also have many fans in Australia, New Zealand, Russia and many other countries.
Living with a pure heartKyuhyun father, who has opened Kyuhyun Korean tuition schools in Taiwan said, “When I first arrived in Taiwan’s airport, I felt that the people in Taiwan are very pure, it is a land full of hope. I hope that this will become Kyuhyun’s second home in the future, which is why I started the business here.” It is also widely recognized that Kyuhyun has the most precise Chinese pronunciation among the members in Super Junior. He had once performed the song “A New Endless Love” on the variety show Variety Big Brother, which deeply moved even the local artistes.
Purity is also another of Kyuhyun’s qualities, in the eyes of his father. It was only up to middle school that Kyuhyun found out that his Christmas presents came from his father and not Santa Claus. He had also tried to switch his Christmas stocking to pants in hopes of getting more presents. Kyuhyun’s father fondly said, “Kyuhyun has his own set of principles when he thinks. In fact, he is quite a stubborn child. But it’s also precisely because he has such a pure thinking process, that even up to middle school, he was still living and believing with the pure heart of a child.”
His father’s objection to him entering showbiz Kyuhyun has also had an aptitude for instruments, when he was young, he played the violin. He also learnt to play the clarinet in middle school. During his years at Yumkwang High School, he was the lead singer of his school’s band, and also participated in various music competitions. He won an award in the 2004 Buddy Star Competition, and also received the bronze award at the Chin Chin Youth Song Festival in June of 2005, in which he caught the attention of music producers. Later that year, he signed on as a trainee with management company SM Entertainment. But he only officially joined Super Junior the next year in May. The reason was that his father, who was in the education business, objected to him entering the entertainment industry, in hopes that he would attend university.
And Kyuhyun, who had never gone against his father’s wishes, waited till he was accepted into the Post Modern Music faculty of Kyunghee University in March 2006 to receive his dad’s reluctant approval, and got to be a member of Super Junior. Kyuhyun, who has a good student image, had originally been a high-flying student in school, and had even won the Math Olympics Presidential Award.
Even though Kyuhyun had been accepted into university and received his father’s approval to join Super Junior, Papa Cho still did not support his decision to become a celebrity. It was only until a major accident happened, that his attitude changed to that of full support.
At the crossroads of death. The miracle of a car accidentIn April 2007, Super Junior members Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Shindong and Kyuhyun were returning to their dorms after a radio schedule. In Seoul, on their way back in the van, an accident which resulted in the van overturning happened. Kyuhyun was the most severely injured, with broken pelvic bones, and six broken ribs which pierced his lungs. Kyuhyun revealed on the television programme Strong Heart, that the doctor then had said, “This child is dying soon, he requires surgery which will involve piercing his throat. But even with the surgery, his chance of survival is only 20 percent.” However, Kyuhyun’s father actually replied, “This child wants to sing, he is a singer, that is his dream. If you pierce his throat, would it be taking away his dream? Even if he survives, how would he go on with life?” Even with the doctors saying, “Are you crazy? Your child is about to die, and you’re talking about singing. There is no other way to operate.” Kyuhyun’s father still insisted on not damaging Kyuhyun’s throat.
When Kyuhyun found out afterwards that his father, who had always objected to him entering showbiz, yet was the one who protected his dreams while he was unconscious, he could help but be moved to tears. His dreams of singing were protected by his father, and together with the support of the strength of his belief, he pulled through. Papa Cho revealed, “To protect my child’s dream to be able to continue singing in the future, I chose to do the surgery where is respirator was connected through his stomach. ” Now, he views singing to be “The best job that god has bestowed upon Kyuhyun. I now look at as a gift from god, and pray for him to watch over Kyuhyun, and enjoy his merits.” He also said that he prays for his son every day, “I pray that he will lead life caring for others, and with a heart full of hope.”
After finding out about Kyuhyun’s accident, his church immediately fasted and prayed for him. The speed of Kyuhyun’s recovery surprised even the doctors. During Kyuhyun’s recuperation in the hospital, he would listen to recordings of Pastor Cho Yonggi’s sermons at Yoido Full Gospel church. He also had time for spiritual healing, and become even closer to god. Four months later, Kyuhyun returned to church with a heart full of thankfulness to god, and listening to his church members singing “You were born to be loved” for him, he was moved to tears and cried very hard. He, who returned to stage after five months, was seen to have made a miraculous recovery.
"I am thankful to god for giving me a second chance to live," Kyuhyun, who continues to be active on stage today, describes his miraculous new life like this, "I hope to spread the glory of god through singing, and with this target in mind, I work hard to continue living. And to god who knows everything about me, I hope to be able to keep receiving his endless love."
