Super Junior’s Heechul spoke with local media Star News on Monday and talked about his decision to enlist in Korean military on September 1st.
In an exclusive phone interview, Heechul said, “Since I’m enlisting at a late age, I wanted to make this a low key event. I initially planned on announcing my enlistment after entering the training facility through my friend and fellow Super Junior member Lee Teuk’s radio show.”
He continued, “But people around me said that it would be disrespectful to the fans and everyone who cared so much about me if I left just like that. So I thought about it and agreed with them, so my agency just announced it today.”
“Super Junior’s fifth album, ‘Mr. Simple,’ just got released and it’s been doing really good so far, so I thought about delaying it (enlistment) for a moment. But I thought if you decided to go, you should just go, so I decided to enlist. Actually, I’m at a peace of mind now that the news got out. For the remaining time, I have to wrap up my TV activities and also visit my hometown in Gangwon Do,” Heechul added.
He didn’t forget to acknowledge his Super Junior members and fans either as he said, “I’m really grateful for the Super Junior members. Since they’re too shy to say in person, they texted ‘We can’t do it without you hyung,’ but I’m just really appreciative of everything, and I’m sure they will keep Super Junior running well without me.”
“I’m so thankful for showing love to me for the past six years. But I won’t tell you to wait for me. Just make sure you like me again when I return with the mindset of starting over,” he told his fans.
Earlier today, Heechul announced that he would be enlisting on September 1st through the Nohn San training facility for a four-week training period. He is scheduled to work as a public service employee for the Sung Dong district office during his 23-month service. The reason Heechul is not serving the regular armed forces, but instead the public service is because he inserted eight metal pins in his lower back after a car accident in 2006.