TVXQ Biography: Members, Net Worth, Age, Songs, Albums, Wife, Children

TVXQ is a celebrated South Korean K-pop boy band that was formed in 2003 by S.M. Entertainment. The group, originally composed of U-Know Yunho, Max Changmin, Hero Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, and Xiah Junsu, quickly catapulted to global stardom with their debut single album Hug (2004).

Following a historic member departure in 2010, the group restructured and continues to dominate the Asian music industry as an elite powerhouse duo.

Quick Facts

• Members Name: Jung Yun Ho, Shim Chang Min
• Stage Name: TVXQ
• Active From: 2003
• Origin: Seoul, South Korea
• Active Until: Present
• Nationality: South Korean
• Occupation: Musicians, Actors, and TV Personalities
• Net Worth: $50 million (USD)

Early Life and Members

TVXQ was a South Korean pop boy band formed in Seoul in 2003. Its current active members are Jung Yun Ho and Shim Chang Min.

U-Know Yunho

• Date of Birth: February 6, 1986
• Age: 40 years old
• Place of Birth: Gwangju, South Korea
• Ethnicity: Korean
• Religion: Christian
• Parents: His father is Jung Yang-hwan, while his mother details are kept private. His family suffered severe financial hardship during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
• Siblings: One younger sister, Jung Ji-hye.
• Education: Attended Myungshin High School and later graduated from Myongji University with a degree in Film and Performance. He also completed a master’s program at Chungwoon University.
• Early Life: He grew up in Gwangju facing immense family pressure to pursue a traditional legal career. Driven by a passion for dance, he won an SM Entertainment casting audition at age 14. To support himself during his trainee days in Seoul, he worked multiple part-time jobs, occasionally sleeping on train stations when train fares were short. He was selected as the leader of TVXQ due to his extreme discipline and resilience.

Max Changmin

• Date of Birth: February 18, 1988
• Age: 38 years old
• Place of Birth: Seoul, South Korea
• Ethnicity: Korean
• Religion: Buddhist
• Parents: His father Shim Dong-shik, is a high school Korean language teacher and his mother, details are kept private.
• Siblings: Two younger sisters, Shim Soo-yeon and Shim Ji-yeon.
• Education: Attended Gaepo High School, then enrolled at Kyung Hee University in Postmodern Music. He later earned a second degree in Film and Arts from Konkuk University and a master’s degree from Inha University.
• Early Life: He grew up in a strict, academic household in Seoul with no initial aspirations to become a singer. At age 14, he was scouted by an SM talent agent while playing badminton in a gym class. His mother encouraged him to audition solely for a chance to meet top singer BoA. He won the 6th Annual Youth Best Contest, joining S.M. Entertainment and debuting as the youngest member (maknae) of TVXQ just over a year later.

Formation

TVXQ was formed in 2003 by S.M. Entertainment, assembled from various top talent trainees who excelled in specific performance categories. Each member brought distinct strengths to the lineup, creating an acappella pop performance unit.

Label executives and founder Lee Soo-man grouped them together, recognizing their potential as a cohesive unit capable of executing flawless vocal harmony and sharp choreography. The band debuted on December 26, 2003, during a Britney Spears and BoA showcase, and launched their record-breaking career with their iconic debut single “Hug” in January 2004.

Their diverse performance backgrounds—spanning Yunho‘s explosive hip-hop dancing and Changmin‘s legendary high-note vocal range—contributed to their unprecedented, market-defining broad appeal.

Career

TVXQ, formed in 2003 during the early boom of modern Hallyu wave casting, was a South Korean K-pop boy band made up of U-Know Yunho, Max Changmin, Hero Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, and Xiah Junsu.

Spanning from 2004 to the present, they became one of the most successful pop acts of their generation, selling over 12 million records across Asia, earning numerous historic Daesang awards, and cultivating a passionate global fanbase.

The group was assembled in late 2003 after each member proved themselves as elite prospects within the S.M. training system. Execs brought them together as a band, which secured the 2008 Guinness World Record for the largest official fan club (Cassiopeia, with over 800,000 members) before transitioning into a powerhouse duo in 2010 following a major contract split.

Under the management of SM Entertainment and Avex Trax, Yunho and Changmin orchestrated a legendary comeback with “Keep Your Head Down” in 2011, establishing themselves as the fastest-selling foreign act in Japanese chart history and completing monumental stadium runs like the 20th Anniversary 20&2 and Zone tours.

Social Media

• Instagram Handle: @tvxq.official
• TikTok Handle: @tvxq_official
• YouTube Channel: TVXQ!

Personal Life

U-Know Yunho

• Height: 184 cm
• Marriages: Yunho has never been married.
• Children: None.
• Dating History: Historically kept his relationships completely out of the public domain. However, he publicly revealed that during his twenties, he was in an intense, long-term relationship with a girlfriend whom he deeply loved and actually approached label founder Lee Soo-man for permission to marry, though it ultimately didn’t work out.
• He has been subject to various minor rumors over his two-decade career with actresses such as Seo Yea-ji, Go Ara, and Park Soo-jin, though all parties firmly denied the rumors. On variety broadcasts, he lightheartedly shared that he has been rejected by the exact same romantic interest four times in his past due to his intense lifestyle.

Max Changmin

• Height: 186 cm
• Marriages: Married his non-celebrity girlfriend on October 25, 2020.
• Children: One child. His wife gave birth to a healthy son in October 2022.
• Dating History: Maintained a spotless record of zero public dating scandals for the first 16 years of his music career. In December 2019, news broke that he was dating a non-celebrity woman younger than him whom he met via a mutual friend.
• In June 2020, he personally wrote a heartfelt, handwritten letter to Cassiopeia announcing his intention to share the rest of his life with her. He praised her for giving him deep trust and faith, and they married later that year in an entirely private autumn ceremony to protect the privacy of her and their families.

Net Worth

TVXQ, the monumental K-pop crossover act formed in 2003, has an estimated collective career net worth exceeding $50 million (USD). The group amassed vast fortunes through physical album sales dominating both South Korea and Japan (Oricon charts), high-grossing multi-dome concert tours, and lucrative corporate endorsements with global brands like Nike, Lacoste, and Pepsi.

Following their transition to a duo, both members heavily boosted their individual wealth through extensive solo musical releases, acting roles, variety television hosting gigs, and extensive luxury real estate investments in Seoul.

Discography

• Tri-Angle (2004)
• Rising Sun (2005)
• “O”-Jung.Ban.Hap. (2006)
• Mirotic (2008)
• Keep Your Head Down (2011)
• Catch Me (2012)
• Tense (2014)
• Rise as God (2015)
• New Chapter #1: The Chance of Love (2018)
• 20&2 (2023)
• Heart, Mind and Soul (2006)
• Five in the Black (2007)
• T (2008)
• The Secret Code (2009)
• Tone (2011)
• Time (2013)
• Tree (2014)
• With (2014)
• Tomorrow (2018)
• XV (2019)
• Zone (2024)