Eric Mun (born February 16, 1979), birth name Mun Jung-hyuk (Korean: 문정혁, is a South Korean rapper, songwriter and actor. He is a member and leader of the South Korean boy band Shinhwa. He is also well known for several dramas such as Phoenix (2004), Super Rookie (2005), and Another Oh Hae-young (2016). He was with Top Class Entertainment from 2007 to December 2013. In 2014, Mun and his manager of 10 years, Lee Jong-hyun, set up a new management agency, E&J Entertainment, for his individual activities. Mun is also the CEO of Shinhwa Company, the home agency of his group, with Lee Min-woo as co-CEO since 2011, and with the remaining members—Kim Dong-wan, Shin Hye-sung, Jun Jin and Andy Lee—as shareholders.
Mun was born in Daechi-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea. He is the youngest of the three siblings with two older sisters. He attended Daechi Elementary School located in Seoul. When his family moved to the U.S., he went to John Burroughs Middle School located in Los Angeles. Mun spent his years at Parks Junior High School and Sunny Hills High School, both of which are located in Fullerton, California. In 1996, he returned to Korea and joined SM Entertainment as a trainee and was featured as a rapper on label mate girl group S.E.S.' single "I'm Your Girl" along with Andy. On March 24, 1998, with the stage name Eric, he debuted as leader and main rapper of group Shinhwa with their single "해결사" (The Solver) on KM Music Tank. He stated that their debut album, Resolver, did not perform well and the band almost disbanded. At the time, he thought seriously about giving up and returning to the U.S.
In 2005, Mun graduated from Dongguk University with a major in Theater and Film.
2004: Acting career beginnings
In 2002, Mun and his Shinhwa bandmates had cameo appearance in the movie Emergency 19 Act. In 2003 director Park Sung-soo cast him in a supporting role for MBC's series Breathless (I Run). In early 2004, he appeared in the drama Phoenix (Bulsae).
In 2005, Mun starred in lead role in MBC's Super Rookie with actress Han Ga-in. It was also broadcast on Fuji Television. It got solid rating in Korea during the broadcast. Super Rookie was also a big hit in Japan after Fuji TV paid ₩2 billion for the broadcast rights in Japan. It was commercially successful in Japan when it was broadcast there. In December 2005, Mun went to promote Super Rookie in Japan, where he was greeted at the airport by a large crowd.
In early 2006, Mun was injured on the set of MBC drama Wolf, resulting in it being pulled off air after four episodes. Mun was injured whilst shooting a scene, near Namdaemun in Seoul, where he was to save co-star Han Ji-min from being run over by a car. The stunt car driver, misunderstanding the instructions given to him, drove at them at 40 km/h and did not stop in front of them as planned.
In August, after the successful run of Super Rookie, especially in Japan, Mun collaborated again with its writers in Invincible Parachute Agent (also known as Korea Secret Agency).
2008–2010: Military enlistment
Shinhwa's 10th Anniversary concert in March 2008 marked the start of Shinhwa's hiatus as a group to fulfill mandatory military service. Before his army enlistment, Mun appeared in a period drama for the first time in his acting career with Strongest Chil Woo. With 30 million wons per episode for Strongest Chil Woo, Mun was the highest paid singer-turned-actor in the industry at the time.
Mun gave up his U.S. citizenship in 2003, to be able to serve his military service. He was the first Shinhwa member to enlist for mandatory military service in October 2008. Because of his back injury from the filming of Wolf, Mun served non-active duty after undergoing four weeks of basic training. He was discharged on October 30, 2010.
After being discharged, Mun's first project was supposed to be KBS' action drama Poseidon opposite Kim Ok-vin, set for broadcast in July 2011. However they dropped out when production was halted after the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong incident in November 2010. Instead, he appeared in another KBS drama, Spy Myung-wol with Han Ye-seul in July, playing a Korean wave star who is at the center of a kidnap plot by North Korean agents.
On July 1, 2011, Mun became CEO (with Lee Min-woo as co-CEO) of Shinhwa Company, a joint venture agency for members Shinhwa to perform as a group. The Company manages the group as a whole, whilst members' individual activities are managed by their respective agencies.
As part of Top Class Entertainment he produced girl group Stellar, who debuted in August 2011 with the song "Rocket Girl".
In March 2012, Mun reunited with his Shinhwa bandmates for their comeback after four years, under the management of Shinhwa Company. The group released their tenth studio album The Return on March 23, 2012, launched the concerts 2012 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Return throughout Asia and their first exclusive variety program Shinhwa Broadcast premiered on March 17, 2012, on cable channel JTBC.
Mun's rap is featured on Brown Eyed Girls' Ga-in's digital single "Nostalgia", released on November 30, 2012.
2013: Shinhwa tour and leaving Top Class Management
On February 8, 2013, Shinhwa's agency announced the group's 2013 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Classic to commemorate the group's 15 years since their debut was revealed. The album's name called The Classic.