Kim Ryeowook (born June 21, 1987) is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior and its subgroups, Super Junior-M and Super Junior-K.R.Y.. Along with four other Super Junior members, he is one of the first Korean artists to appear on Chinese postage stamps.

Biographie

Pre-debut
Ryeowook was discovered through the CMB Youth ChinChin Festival in 2004 and signed a contract with SM Entertainment soon afterwards impressing the judges with his singing talent. Trained in areas of singing, dancing, and acting, Ryeowook placed particular efforts into his vocal training and music composition. He plays piano, and plays accompaniment for fellow members during their solo stages at their concerts.

Before Kyuhyun was added in 2006, Ryeowook was the last to join Super Junior several weeks before their official debut in 2005. Having undergone only two months of training, Ryeowook's late addition was rumored to be a replacement of a previous SM trainee that was supposed to debut as a member of Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior.


2005: Debut with Super Junior

Ryeowook officially debut as part of 12-member project group Super Junior 05 on 6 November 2005 on SBS's music programme Popular Songs, performing their first single, "Twins (Knock Out)". Their debut album SuperJunior05 (Twins) was released a month later on 5 December 2005 and debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.

In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group's first CD single "U" was released on 7 June 2006, which was their most successful single until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009. In the fall of 2007, the group released their second official album, Don't Don, which became Super Junior's best-selling album and Korea's second best-selling album of the year.


2006-2008: "U" Single, Sub-group, Acting, Don't Don, SJM
In late 2006, Ryeowook became a member of Super Junior's first subgroup, Super Junior-K.R.Y.. The trio debuted on November 5, 2006 on KBS's Music Bank. Ryeowook made his acting debut in 2007, in the film, Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, a high-school comedy/mystery film, in which he plays the eccentric vice president of the student council. . He was nominated Best Supporting Actor and Best Comedic Performance at the Korean Movie Awards.

In April 2008, he was put into seven-member sub-group Super Junior-M, a Mandopop subgroup of Super Junior for the Chinese music industry. They debuted in China at the 8th Annual Music Chart Awards, simultaneously with the release of their first music video, "U" on 8 April 2008. This was followed by the release of the debut Chinese-language studio album, Me in selected provinces in China on 23 April and 2 May in Tawain.

Ryeowook's first composition to be officially released was "Love U More", in the repackaged Sorry, Sorry Version C. He co-wrote the lyrics with fellow Super Junior member Sungmin. Ryeowook is also credited for musical arrangement in the liner notes of the album.


2009-2011: Sorry Sorry, Bonamana, Mr. Simple
Ryeowook is featured in K.Will's 2009 song "Dropping the Tears". He is also the first member of Super Junior to sing a solo track included in their album, "One Fine Spring Day" was released in Bonamana.

Ryeowook made his musical theatre debut in Temptation of Wolves alongside Park Hyung Sik of ZE:A and Lim Jeong Hee. It ran from 14 July to 30 October 2011 at the COEX Artium.

On 24 February 2012, Ryeowook graduated from Inha University with a major in theater and film studies. On 16 and 23 June, following the footsteps of band mates Yesung and Kyuhyun, Ryeowook joined KBS's Immortal Songs 2 with Sunggyu of Infinite, where singers render their own versions of songs from music legends and winners are selected by voting. He took first place in the 11 August episode where singers Lee Sang-woo and Lee Sang-eun were guests. He recorded his last episode on 16 August, which was broadcast on 25 August.


2012: Comeback with Super Junior
In June 2012, Ryeowook reunited with his Super Junior band mates for their sixth studio album, Sexy, Free & Single for released on 4 July. On 23 June Ryeowook's teaser photo was released showing him with red hair and feathers.
He also showed up on Saturday Night Live and star life theater along with Super Junior.

In November 2012, Super Junior K.R.Y. held a concert tour in Japan, Super Junior K.R.Y. Special Winter Concert. They announced that they would be releasing their first single 6 years after debut. The teaser for Promise You was released on November 21, 2012, followed by the single on 23 January 2013. It debuted at number two on the Oricon’s daily singles chart.


2013: Comeback with Super Junior-M and Super Junior-K.R.Y.
On January 7, 2013, Super Junior-M released their second album, Break Down, along with the music video for the lead single of the same name. A press conference took place in Beijing on January 7, and they will promote the album in China.

Promise You on 23 January 2013 was released and debuted at number two on the Oricon’s daily singles chart and got to Oricon no 1.


2014: The Goddess is Watching Musical in Japan, Comeback with Super Junior-M and Super Junior
Super Junior-M released their third EP album, "Swing" in China on March 21. A press conference was held on March 22 in Beijing, which was broadcast live online and viewed by over a million people. The album was later released on Korean music sites, such as MelOn, genie, Naver music and more, on March 31. They held their first comeback stage on China's CCTV's 'Global Chinese Music List' and continued in Korea, performing on music programs for 2 weeks. The music video for Swing debuted on Chinese video sites Youku, Weibo, and iQIYI on March 23, before being released on YouTube on March 24.

On September 28, 2014, Ryeowook made a leave to Japan to perform in "The Goddess is Watching (여신님보고계셔)" in Setagaya Public Theatre in Tokyo. He performed from September 30 to October 2 with total five performances. He acted as Ryu Sun Ho, a teenage North Korean soldier which suffered from PTSD and was abandoned in an uninhabited island after an unexpected storm with three other North Korean soldiers and two South Korean soldiers.

Ryeowook comeback with a new album from Super Junior 7th Album "Mamacita (Super Junior album)". It was released on September 1, 2014, by SM Entertainment and was released online on August 29, 2014. This is their first Korean album since the 2012 release Sexy, Free & Single.
On 22 October 2014, Ryeowook along with Super Junior members released a special album "This is Love" along with the music video on the same day for their fans "Everlasting Friends" or usually called as E.L.F. The album itself has 10 various types for each members with their own designs in it, and each album's cover contain an alphabet of the title "THIS IS LOVE". Ryeowook's "This is Love" album's alphabet is "H".


2015: Cast in 'Agatha' Musical
On January 8, it was revealed that Ryeowook had been cast in the musical Agatha as the lead role of Raymond.