Lee Jung Min

EXO-K’s D.O’s real name is Do Kyungsoo, he’s born on January 12th 1993, his blood type is A. He was selected through SM’s casting system in 2010 and then started to prepare to become a singer. His specialities are singing and beatboxing.

It’s interesting to know how D.O got his stage name but somehow, rather than his nickname, his real name is easier to say. D.O as well said “Truthfully, I can’t get used to it either. The members too call me by my real name more than my stage name” and Chanyeol next to him agreed and added“We’re not familiar with it either”.

On April 8th, at SBS ‘Inkigayo’, the day they had their debut stage, D.O’s ‘superior orchestra’ interview left a deep impression and it made us want to meet him the most. His anxious image when he gets ready for each interview is easily noticeable and it gives him a cute little brotherly feeling.

“It wasn’t like that during the (debut stage’s) rehearsal. I personally think I did well during the rehearsal but thinking it was a live broadcast, I couldn’t remember the word “imposing”, I could only remember it started with “im” (T/N: The words “imposing” and “superior” start the same way in Korean Woongjanghan/Woowolhan). I couldn’t remember how you said it. I really can’t watch that video.”

Because of his big eyes, D.O gives a strong ‘kind and weak’ feeling but he also looks very stubborn “We had to post a message on our official homepage and I told them to write “Heart” but then I saw they changed it to an emoticon. So I asked them to change it back to “Heart”. I don’t really like emoticons.”

When we asked D.O what musician he was looking up to, he replied Yoo Youngjin who’s working at SM. D.O said “I saw him write and compose for our upcoming ‘MAMA’ promotions as we recorded, I thought he was someone I really had a lot to learn from. I admire him a lot.”

During this interview that wasn’t a broadcast, he didn’t look nervous at all and talked nicely but at the sudden question ‘Is there anything you want to say?’, he gave us again a model answer “Give us a lot of love and attention, please” raising a laugh.

source: newsen
translation cr; emilie @ exok-trans
please take out with full credits.

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun! 

Woah my picture came out really well!! hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

I really think it came out prettily~~~

Now set it as your background picture~~~ kuhahahahahahahaha

[FAN] The members’ image (result of the poll)

According to you who is?

The member who looks the most greedy : First place - Baekhyun, Sixth place - Suho, D.O

The member who is most likely to cry when the others can’t see him : First place - D.O, Sixth place - Kai, Baekhyun

The member who looks like he would nag at the others : First place - D.O, Sixth place - Chanyeol

The member who looks the most childlish : First place - Chanyeol, Sixth place - the maknae who is burning with ambition

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun! 

This is Sehun and I am the first one to reply to your posts !!!!!!!

You probably can’t believe it right~~? But it’s the truth~~~~ hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I logged on the official website just after M!Countdown !!

Because I missed you all so much !!!!! So I am the first one to come and greet you~~

Wow wow wow~~♥

[FAN] Finally in Gwangju T____T

I’ve been told [EXO] would finally hold a fansign event in Gwangju T______T

The sadness of the fans who waited for a long time T___________T

I am going to buy 6 copies [of the album] it should be fine [for the lottery] right? Please T_______T

T_____________________T

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

It will be okay !!

Eveyone please come to the fansign in Gwangju~~

And come to Busan, Daegu and Daejeon as well~~~

I really really really want to see the fans in the other regions as well !!

[FAN] Sehun do you see this T_T

Woaahhhhh daebak kekekeke

Sehun is replying [to the fans’ messages] kekekeke

Can you see me oppa T___T

Please give me some fanservice T___T

You were alone during the fiming for Arirang, you weren’t even looking at the fans

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

Yes !!! I see this~~~

Woah you are the first person to reply to me? Oh~~

You’re the best !!! You’re really fast~~ Hehehehe

[FAN] Sehun-ah, my baby,  look at granny’s message !!!!

Granny loves her Sehun a lot

If you want to receive something on the kids’ day tell me~ 

I love you ♥

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

I want to receive everyone’s love !!! 

Since there’s Music Core on the kids’ day, I hope a lot of you can come to the filming location~~! Come~~~

Pinky promise~~ Done! You have to keep your promise!!

[FAN]  Sehun-ah I have a really earnest wish

If you can, just reply to my message T___T

If you can also add “I love you” then I will kneel down…

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

I can !!! Why wouldn’t I !!! Of course I can !!

Fighting !! ♥~~ Aja aja aja aja ajajangjang ja

[FAN] Sehuna !!!!! Are you alone right now? What about your hyungs?

Are you using the computer by yourself?????????????

My pretty baby T_______T

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

The hyungs are practicing~~

And I am play playing~~~ Uhahahahaha ~~~

I am playing with everyone !! It’s so entertaining !!

[FAN] I love you Sehuna !!!!! Oh Sehun you are unlucky

Because you are too good looking you are unlucky~

I love you Sehuna hmph nuna just wanted to get your attention

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

You got it~ kekeke

I am always concerned over all our fans~~

So you have to care about me a lot~~  hehehehehe

[FAN] Sehuna~ Did you have dinner?

Did you eat..??

Practice diligently and show us a cool performance tomorrow~~

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

Of course I ate~~ hehe

Fans, did you all eat?

Eat a lot of tasty food !!

A person needs to eat a lot in order to be healthy~~

Uhehehe

[FAN] Underage oppa~ our underage oppa

Sehuna, what are you supposed to do right now???

Is it your free time?????? ^_^

Or are you practicing?????

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

I was practicing but I suddenly missed you guys a lot

So I came here for a bit hehe

[FAN] Sehuna these international nunas are going to buy tickets T___T

The airplane ticket to go to Taiwan is one million wons T_T

But these nunas are going to Taiwan to see you T_________T

We’re really going to see you T______T

We can’t go to LA T___T So see you in Taiwan T___T We’ll go to the Korean concert as well T____T

Are you coming to Shanghai? If you attend the Music Bank concert in Hong Kong, then we’ll go there too T_T

If we have enough [money] then ! We’ll go until the Tokyo Dome concert !! Sehuna we have to see each other T___T

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

Woh.. I’m really… touched

Thank you so much international fans I’m really thankful !!

[FAN] Sehun oppa is Luhan oppa in Korea??

Ah I’m really curious.. How is Luhan oppa doing these days T_T? Please tell me about his situation~~

What do you guys talk about o_o? I am really curious ㅇㅁㅇ..

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

Luhan hyung is Chinese~

Hm… When we meet each other in the morning we go out to get bubble teas keke I like chocolate bubble teas

[FAN] Sehun-ah, “Turn back” is my favorite part in MAMA

Turn back !!!!!!

These two words make me melt

*melts*

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

hehehe thank you !!

[SEHUN] This is EXO’s maknae Sehun!

I’m off to practice~

Everyone, it’s late now

Go to sleep early and see you tomorrow for Music Bank !!

Good night~~ Dream of me !!

Who will be the next member to post here?!! hehe

You are probably curious right? Please look forward to it~~

source : EXO-K’s Official website
translation cr; saphira @ exok-trans
please take out with full credits

SM Entertainment is the best pop music company. It must be why becoming a trainee there isn’t so easy. And after luckily becoming a trainee, it’s not the end. You can’t avoid the fierce competition between the candidates. You have to distinguish yourself, actually before debuting, a lot of tears are shed.

SM released a new group. Succeeding to ‘SHINee’, it’s the first boygroup after 4 years. They are ‘EXO-K’. It’s composed of 6 members, the leader Suho, D.O, Kai, Chanyeol, Sehun and Baekhyun, while dreaming of becoming the ‘new Hallyu stars’, they’re ambitiously challenging the pop music industry. The expectations for them are high as they’re the new group from the SM idol empire. 

Of course, before debuting it was a rough journey. But the members clenched their teeth and overcame the extremely long training period. They were singing and dancing every day in the practice room. They spent like this for 7 years for some of them. They went through this tunnel of long-suffering and got to stand on the music program’s stage they wanted so much with the song ‘MAMA’ on April 8th.

“Of course, if we said that the training period wasn’t hard, we’d be lying. We were also really scared. Didn’t our SM seniors opened up well K-Pop’s path? What if we can’t follow it well? What if we fall short of the people’s expectations? We were very pressured. That’s why we clinged onto training even more, I think we could go on straight without deviating.” (Suho)

It’s been now a month since their debut. We’re here to hear about the whole process they went through before ‘EXO-K’ came out to the world. Right now they’re only rookies who are making their first step into the music industry but until it pays off, the efforts they put in it, their patience and passion is bigger than anyone else’s.

◆ “We prepared 15h a day, for at most 7 years”

The average is 3 years and 6 months. This is the training time it took to EXO-K to debut. Each member lived a trainee life without any promises from 1 year to at most 7 years. There were a lot of hardships. Some trainees who joined after them debuted before, some failed at the verge of debuting. There were a lot of moments where they wanted to give up. But they didn’t stop and continued to dream.

“I trained for 7 years in SM. Of course it was a long wait. Sometimes I got envious of the friends who joined after me but debuted first too. But I had a dream and didn’t give up. Instead of these pains, looking back on myself helped me. As a result, it became an opportunity to improve my skills internally and externally” (Suho)

Until EXO-K debuted, they lived an even fiercer life than professional singers. Every day, as soon as the sun set, they were coming to the company and were coming back home when the dawn’s dew dropped. Aside from eating, they were practicing singing and dancing half of the day. The stage was for the one who noticed first that even before debut it was a ferocious competition.

“We were arriving at 11AM at the company and started to practice. We were generally ending at 3~4AM. First, we received our singing and dancing lessons at fixed times. The rest of the time we were practicing by ourselves. We were taking around one hour to eat our lunch and dinner so we were training for around 15 hours. Without even anyone forcing us, we did it like this” (Chanyeol)

◆ “The nervous first performance, rather than being moved, disappointment”

Overcoming all these hardships, the 6 members became a group. And after practicing together during a year, they got the name ‘EXO-K’ and got to debut. At the end of the 100 days promotion, they made their debut with their brother group ‘EXO-M’ made out of Chinese members, they had a large showcase in Korea’s Olympic Park and in China’s School of International Business and Economics.

“During the 100 days’ promotions and during the showcase in the Olympic Park, we received a happiness so huge you can’t even imagine it, thinking it was really our rookie debut. It was such a happy debut we were even wondering if we could accept all of this. Dancing and singing in front of the fans supporting us…. We were really happy the reactions were as good as what we imagined, it was a touching moment” (D.O)

But even this joy doesn’t last. After having their official debut stage on April 8th at SBS-TV ‘Inkigayo’, ‘EXO-K’ went back to their main goal. Adjusting to the cameras, having to dance the 6 of them in sync, and showing a steady live weren’t easy. They practiced to improve as much as they were disappointed by their first performance.

“The first live broadcast wasn’t easy. At first we were searching our in-ear, we were also pressured for the live. Following the cameras was also difficult. We were disappointed that we couldn’t show the skills we practiced for. Starting from then we started to rage(?) practice. Aside from the times we had schedules, we took most of the time to practice and monitor” (Baekhyun)

‘DBSK”s U-Know Yunho and ‘Super Junior’s Leeteuk who are in the same company were the biggest help with their advices.

“After our first broadcast ended, U-Know Yunho senior checked it personally in Japan and called us. He told us to sing while running every morning. So we did that and our live skills totally improved. We felt his power to fill the Tokyo Dome. Leeteuk senior emphasized on the teamwork. He told us to talk a lot to each other and that the choreography will match naturally. These were really touching advices, it gave us strength” (Kai) 

◆ “We want to have DBSK’s dignity+Super Junior’s talent”

They’re a group that didn’t neglect doing efforts before and after debuting. ‘EXO-K’ is slowly developping. Their group’s name ‘EXO’ comes from ‘EXOPLANET’ an unknown planet. Matching this, they’re dreaming of becoming an outstanding group with the singing skills and the performances.  Until the day they become these all-rounded singers, they’re planning on focusing on their ‘singer”s activities only.

“‘DBSK”s charisma, ‘Super Junior”s talent, ‘SHINee”s uniqueness, we want to have it all. We hope we can become a group with that and outstanding live skills and unquestionable great performances. We’re trying to become a group so mysterious that the public will wonder ‘Are they really a group coming from an unknown planet?’” (Sehun·Suho)

With this meaning, their debut track ‘MAMA’ is a song that shows the best ‘EXO-K”s talents. It has a majestic sound, strong performance, and even lyrics that criticize the society, it wasn’t made easily by anyone. They were hoping for the fans to share their feelings when listening to the lyrics and seeing the special choreography.

“We’re not just reciting the lyrics, the role of a singer is to deliver a message. Our whole generation should be able to share our feelings with these lyrics criticizing this digital world. During the chorus, we have this dance step where we stop quickly, it’s the first time it’s used in Korea, it’s a trend coming from Chicago called dubstep. I hope the majestic sound will touch the fans’ hearts too” (Kai)

As the interview ended, the ‘EXO-K’ members said “It hasn’t been long since we got our first performance but we’re really thankful you’re already giving us a lot of interest and love. We will work even harder to repay you. We will work until ‘EXO’ is known not only in Korea but in the whole world. Look after us please” and did a fighting. We could feel their sincerity in their serious eyes.

source: dispatch
translation cr; emilie @ exok-trans
please take out with full credits.