ZE:A’s MinWoo Star Diary Part 1: The Country Side Boy with Big Dreams

Ha MinWoo(20), is now known as Child of Empire’s own dancing machine. As a young boy from the small town of Yongsan, it seemed like his hope of becoming a singer was only a distant dream.
Asiae met with Minwoo on a beautiful afternoon. With a friendly ‘hello’, Minwoo took a seat and began telling his story. “Since I was a kid, becoming a singer was my only dream.”

When asked to tell more about his childhood, Minwoo began speaking about his childhood dreams. He explained that talking about his childhood was synonymous with talking about his dreams. “At a young age before most kids, I was sure about my goals and I worked harder than others.”

MinWoo was born in a place not far from Busan, in Yongsan south of Kyungsan-do. He was good at sports in elementary school and stood out among the others in terms of natural talent. It was during his 8th grade that he was made gym captain and hogged all of the gym teacher’s attention.

“Whenever there was a talent show, I always gathered some friends and went in front of the whole school to show our talents. I can still remember it like it was yesterday, watching our classmates dance from below the stage while waiting impatiently for our turn.”

For Minwoo, it was easy to make friends with his energetic personality. Some of his happiest memories from his childhood were from times when he would get together with his friends and practice for an upcoming talent show. “Because I lived in the country, I was always concerned how anyone from here could become a singer. For that reason I began having second thoughts about my dreams.”

It was then that he put his dreams aside when he began playing in a soccer team. However, his hopes and ambitions just kept coming back to him. “Starting in the 8th grade, I attended an after school music program. After starting high school I thought to myself, ‘Since I’m getting vocal lessons after school, I should also learn how to dance’, so I registered at a dance club at school.”

After going out to dance clubs with his friends, he began exploring his natural talent for dancing, experimenting with different styles. It was then that he felt confident and ambitious enough to register at a dance school in Busan. “During high school I attended dance and vocal school, I diligently went to both places everyday without a day to rest. I didn’t even shy away from the hour and a half it took to get to Busan.”

Everyday he would make that trip, coming up to 3 hours round trip. By the time he got home, it would already be the next day, and he would get only 3-4 hours of sleep due to the early school start. As tiring as the schedule was, Minwoo never once complained. Because he was learning how to dance, he was one step closer to living his dream and it made him happy.

“While attending the dance school I made a dance team called ‘SMJ’ and was the team leader. Through school we performed at recitals, events, and school festivals. I think that was a great experience.” As videos of his performances spread through the internet, it was so popular that it was on the main page of the portal site. It was then that Minwoo started gaining popularity.

Thanks to the online video that was spread all over, he received a life altering phone call. That was the start of Minwoo’s idol career as a part of Children of Empire.

Source: Yoon TaeHee@asiae.co.kr
Translation: Julez@kpoplive.com