K-pop boy band Super Junior member Sungmin announces birth of son

K-pop boy band Super Junior member Sungmin is officially a dad.

The 38-year-old singer announced the birth of his son in a joint post with his wife, singer-actress Kim Sa-eun, on Instagram on Sept 14. They shared several pictures of their newborn.

His agency, SM Entertainment, confirmed that Sungmin welcomed his child on Sept 13. This is the first child for Sungmin, whose real name is Lee Sung-min, and Kim, 39. They tied the knot in 2014.

In the post, the couple nicknamed their child Popo and tagged an Instagram account created for him.

They wrote: “Thanks to your prayers, both mother and baby are healthy. We will raise him properly and healthily with love.

“As soon as we met, he smiled brightly at his dad. We love you, my Popo.”

While Sungmin is technically still part of Super Junior, which will celebrate their 20th year in entertainment in 2025, he has not performed with the group since 2015.

He was boycotted by fans when he married Kim in 2014. Fans felt he was not forthcoming about his personal life and that he was not considerate of the group, choosing to marry in the midst of their promotional activities in Japan.

He enlisted for mandatory military service in March 2015 and was discharged in December 2016. He was originally supposed to join the group in promoting an album released in 2017, but withdrew when fans protested.

Since then, Sungmin has focused on his solo career. He started his own YouTube channel and released his first solo EP in 2019. He also released his first trot single in 2023. Trot is a genre of popular music in South Korea that has seen a resurgence in recent years.

While he has not performed with Super Junior in almost a decade, he attended member Ryeowook’s wedding in May 2024, with all the past and present members of the group.

The boy band’s original line-up had 13 members, but only nine are now actively performing with the group. Super Junior last performed here at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in July. The group also performed in Malaysia last month (Aug 3). – The Straits Times/Asia News Network