Micky says gets along with TVXQ members "like water"

Korean singer and actor Micky Yuchun has said that he gets along with TVXQ bandmates "like water" despite the recent turmoil surrounding the band.

The pop idol made the remark at a press conference for upcoming TV series "Sungkyunkwan Scandal," where he takes on his first major TV role, held Thursday on the set in the city of Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

"We don't keep in touch as often as one might think," said Micky in his first public appearance since TVXQ's announcement that it would cease to carry out its activities as a five-man band. "But we still get along like water, just as we used to. I don't think [our relationship] changed because of what happened."

Last July, three TVXQ members -- Hero Jaejung, Micky Yuchun and Xiah Junsu -- had raised legal issues against major talenthouse SM Entertainment, asking the court to nullify their 13-year contract with the agency.

The legal dispute led to friction also within TVXQ, considered one of the most successful K-pop acts throughout Asia, and the boys eventually announced that they will no longer be working as a group in Korea nor Japan.

Micky explained that around the time the group started breaking up, all the members were busy pursuing their individual activities; U-Know Yunho was shooting his first TV series "No Limit" (MBC, 2009); Max Changmin was filming in Jeju Island; and Hero Jaejung was working in Japan.

"I am excited because I am working for the first time in a while and I want to show fans a new, different side to myself," said the singer. "For the time being, I think I will be absorbed working on 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal' and afterwards I want to take on a challenge music-wise."

In the historical drama "Scandal," he has been cast as a Confucian scholar named Lee Seon-joon who falls in love with a woman in disguise as a man. He will be playing one of the four main characters on the show, alongside actors Yu A-in, Song Joong-ki and actress Park Min-young.

"I have been living a normal life since the incident last year -- I studied music and practiced acting a lot," the singer went onto say. "I went to see movies like other people do. I hadn't been able to spend much time with my parents because I was busy working and I spent a lot of time with them."

Micky, Hero and Xiah have since formed a separate group under Japanese management agency Avex through which they will continue their singing careers in Japan. The trio, who recently performed a series of concerts in Japan as a new unit, will be holding a fan meeting in Seoul on September 4.

"Scandal" will premiere on the small screen in September.

Reporter : Ko Jae-wan star@
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@