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This is a Korean name; the family name is Kim.

Kim Dong Wan
Background information
Birth name	Kim Dong-wan
Also known as	Upright Guy [1] (바른 생활 사나이)[2][3]
Born	November 21, 1979 (1979-11-21) (age 30)
Origin	South Korea
Genres	K-pop
Occupations	Singer, Actor
Years active	1998 — present
Labels	H2 Entertainment Good Entertainment SM Entertainment
Associated acts	Shinhwa
Website	Official website

Cover of Kim's debut solo album, Kimdongwan Is.

Kim Dong Wan (Hangul: 김동완; born November 21, 1979) is a South Korean singer and actor. He is best known as a member of teen idol boy band Shinhwa, but since 2002 has been making a name for himself as an actor, with prominent roles in television dramas such as A Farewell to Sorrow and Children of Heaven. He has said that given the opportunity he would prefer a career in acting rather than as a singer,^[4] although since the release of his debut album he says that now he prefers singing more. ^[5] From Shinhwa, Kim is the fourth member to go solo, following Lee Min Woo, Shin Hye Sung, and Jun Jin.

Musical career

Debut with Shinhwa

Kim made his debut in 1998 as a vocalist in the boy band Shinhwa. Although he isn't lead vocalist, he began singing bigger parts on Shinhwa's 7th album, Brand New. One song from the album, "Liar", actually only has Kim as the vocalist, along with Eric Mun as the rapper. He also wrote, composed, and arranged a song on the album, titled "Set Free". Though he had branched out as a solo artist, he is part of Shinhwa and just released Shinhwa's 9th album.^[6]

Going solo

Kim released his debut solo album, Kimdongwan Is, on July 5, 2007, which featured collaborations with his fellow Shinhwa members, including Lee Andy rapping in the song "Loving Summer", Shin Hye Sung singing a duet with Kim in "The One Left Alone", and Eric rapping in "My Love".^[7] The other members have contribute to the album as well, with Lee Min Woo writing, composing and arranging the song "My Love," and with Jun Jin helping him with choreography.^{[8 ]} Kim expressed gratitude for their contributions, saying, "I’ve been working together with the group Shinhwa, thus there was a lot of pressure working on the solo album, but since the other members showed up and helped me with most of it, it has been a great big help for me."^[9] Kim's first single was the ballad, "Handkerchief", a song about a guy who consoles his girlfriend and wipes away her tears. Despite Shinhwa's genre in music like American R&B and bubblegum pop, Kim said he wanted his album to be more J-pop influenced, having redone a song by Glay and Exile in the album. ^[5]

For the debut album, Kim also lost a lot of weight, saying that "it's not good for a ballad singer to have a muscular image. Someone singing ballads should have a lean, 'hungry-looking' image." ^[5] His album sold over 25,000 copies in two days^[10] with 41,490 copies sold by the end of 2007^[11] allowing it to rank 19th for the year.^[11] In 2008, he released his 2nd solo album, The Secret; Between Us. The album featured collaborations with Tiffany of SNSD, Jade Valerie, Shinhwa bandmate, Eric and Heritage.

Kim officially began his military service on November 17, 2008.

In the media

On April 16, 2007, Kim appeared as a guest on MC Mong's "Pleasure and Pain" radio show. When asked about an incident early in his career where he injured his nose, he confessed that he in fact had plastic surgery to change its shape.^[12][13]

Kim was one of several Korean celebrities praised by the Japanese media for giving generous donations for flood victims in 2006.^[14]

Discography

• Kimdongwan Is

1. Dongwan Is (Intro)
2. 내 잘못이니까 (It's My Fault)
3. 손수건 (Handkerchief)
4. 삼총사 (Three Musketeers) - Feat. MC Mong, 허인창 (Ho Inchang)
5. Scream - Feat. D.Bace, DJ Tukutz Of Epik High
6. 사랑이 가여워 (Love... Poor)
7. My Love - Feat. Eric <Composed by Minwoo a.k.a M>
8. 여름이 좋아 (Loving Summer) - Feat. Andy
9. 남은 사람 (The one left alone) - Duet with Hyesung
10. 사랑해선 안 될 사람 (Cannot Love You) - Duet with Byul
11. 진담 (JinDam) (Truth)
12. Scream (Instrumental)

• The Secret; Between Us

1. 남자의 사랑 (Man's Love)
2. 비밀 (Secret) (Narr. Tiffany of Girls' Generation)
3. 왜 그래 (What's Wrong?) (feat. Heritage)
4. Honey (feat. Eric Mun)
5. 사랑하는 사람아 (Person You Love)
6. 바람의 노래 (Wind's Love)
7. 사이 키스 (Kiss Between Us)
8. 떠나도 돼 (You Can Leave)
9. 악녀 탈출 (Witch's Escape)
10. 좋을 사람 (Good Person)
11. 잊어야겠다 (I Need to Forget)
12. You Don't Know Me (duet with Jade Valerie)
13. 비밀 (Instrumental)
14. 왜 그래 (Instrumental)

• Promise

1. Intro
2. 약속 Yaksok (Promise) (Duet with Youn Ha)
3. 못잊어 Mosijeo (Can't Forget)
4. 약속 Yaksok (Instrumental)

Filmography

TV dramas

• New Nonstop (2001)
• Children of Heaven (2002)
• MBC Best Theater, episode #610: "Magic Power Alcohol" (2005)
• Beating Heart (2005)
• A Farewell to Sorrow, aka A Farewell to Tears or Goodbye Sadness (2005)
• The One I Love, aka The Person That I Love or I Will Not Love (2007)

Films

• Emergency Act 19 (2002)
• Spin Kick, aka Taekwon Boys (2004)

Music videos

• 2005 Shinhwa MV - “Brand New”
• 2005 Shinhwa MV – “Crazy”
• 2006 Shinhwa MV – “Once in a Lifetime”
• 2006 Shinhwa MV – “Throw my fist”
• 2006 Shinhwa MV - “This Is The Sun In Our Hearts”
• 2006 SG Wannabe MV – “Partner for life” and “Slow”
• 2006 Self - “Handkerchief”
• 2008 Shinhwa MV – “RUN”
• 2008 Self - “The Secret”
• 2008 Self - "Can't Forget"

Appearances

• 2003 KBS Yoon Do-Hyun's Love Letter “Lately”
• 2004 KBS Yoon Do-Hyun's Love Letter “Cigarette Shop Girl”
• 2005 Public Relations - Officer of JeonJu International Film Festival
• 2008 SBS Family Outing

Program hosts & DJ

• 2000 – 2002: DJ for Ten Ten Club
• 2003 – 2005: Host for SBS Inkigayo
• 2006: Host for SBS I Love My Teacher Day Concert

Awards

References

External links

• Kim Dong-wan - Official website (Korean)
• Shinhwa - Official website (Korean)
• Kim Dong-wan at the Internet Movie Database
• Kim Dong-wan at HanCinema
• Kim Dong-wan on KoME
• Album Kimdongwan Is KoME review