H.O.T members stir up speculation on reunion

Kangta, Tony An and Jang Woo-hyuk

Speculation that Korean boy band H.O.T will be reuniting has been mounting after several of its former members addressed its possibility but their agencies have denied there being any actual talk of it.

"We have heard that the members have met and discussed about the group's reunion but there are no concrete plans as of right now," remarked an official at SM Entertainment, the agency currently managing the career of Kangta who was the lead vocalist of the former pop group.

TN Entertainment, the management firm of Tony, formerly another singer of H.O.T, also said there are no set details regarding the group reuniting and a rep for Jang Woo-hyuk who used to be the rapper for the band, stated that Jang has not mentioned anything about a reunion.

Known as one of the biggest names in Korean pop in the early 1990s, H.O.T dominated the music scene in 1996 with their hit songs "Candy," "Full of Happiness" and "Hope."

The five-member boy band, also composed of Lee Jae-won and Moon Hee-jun, disbanded in 2001 after which Tony An, Jang Woo-hyuk and Lee Jae-won formed a trio under the name JTL but broke up when the bandmates sought solo careers.

Kangta, whose real name is Ahn Chil-hyun, has led a successful solo career thereafter with songs "Polaris," "Last Summer Night" and "Persona." He is set to release a new album in China at the end of the year.

Born An Seung-ho, Tony An recently made several appearances on entertainment programs after being discharged from the military in September. He is also the CEO of TN Entertainment and Skoolooks, a school uniform company.

Jang began his solo career in 2005 and expanded his singing career into china after completing his mandatory two-year military service late last year. He recently opened up his official fan club in the country as well.

Reporter : Park Kun-ouc kun1112@
Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@