Throwing off the normal trappings of military service, K-pop act JYJ are keeping a strong presence even while members fulfill their mandatory military service.
JYJ, the popular K-pop act consisting of Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, and Kim Junsu, are technically on hiatus since last year when Yoochun and Jaejoong enlisted in the Korean armed services. But just because two members are in the army, JYJ aren't sitting back for two years.
Since the pair enlisted, members of the group have dropped new music, held a hologram concert, and released a variety show.
At the beginning of the month, JYJ excited fans with the release of a variety show featuring the trio on an overnight trip ahead of Jaejoong and Yoochun's enlistment. Clips of "Harvest Trip" were released through the group's Naver TVCast channel from Feb. 1-5. Further clips will be released on a DVD.
"Harvest Trip" is the first variety program based around the three in more than six years due to a variety of restrictions placed on them by Korean broadcast agencies.
While Yoochun has remained generally out of the public's eye, the other two-thirds of JYJ have been busy.
Junsu, the only member not in the army, was featured on Psy's album last year and has been featured in numerous popular musicals. He was also revealed to be in a relationship with EXID's Hani at the beginning of the new year.
The most groundbreaking release came last week, when Jaejoong released his second full-length album "NO.X" and the single "Love You More." All of the songs and music videos were reportedly recorded prior to Jaejoong's enlistment last year, and came as a surprise as few K-pop celebrities have been able to release new music from the army let alone an album of new music.
Additionally, Jaejoong "held" a hologram concert in Japan on Feb. 9-10 to celebrate the album's release.
Jaejoong and Yoochun are both expected to finish their military service in 2017. The group debuted in 2010, following their 2009 departure from TVXQ.
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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey and Paste Magazine.
