Kangin (강인)

Kangin — birth name Kim Young-woon — built his public identity as a member of Super Junior, the sprawling SM Entertainment group that became one of K-pop's defining acts of the late 2000s. In April 2026, he stepped back into the spotlight with "LOVE IS PAIN," a self-written and self-composed solo ballad released on April 15, marking his first significant move as a performer following years away from active promotion. The return was met with divided public opinion, arriving as it did after a series of personal controversies that had kept him off stages and screens for an extended period.

Debut and Group Career

Kangin debuted with Super Junior under SM Entertainment, serving as a sub-vocalist in a group that at various points featured more than a dozen members. Beyond the main unit, he was part of two sub-units: Super Junior-T, which leaned into a trot-influenced sound, and Super Junior-H (also known as Super Junior-Happy), a unit oriented around a lighter, more playful pop style. His presence across multiple configurations of the Super Junior project reflected both his versatility and the unusually expansive nature of how SM structured the group's activities during its peak commercial years.

Controversies and Hiatus

Kangin's career trajectory was significantly altered by two separate incidents involving drunk driving and assault. The controversies prompted him to halt public activities, and for a substantial stretch he remained absent from the entertainment industry. His departure from active participation in Super Junior schedules during this period was widely covered, and his eventual decision to return to music in 2026 reignited public discussion about accountability and rehabilitation in the Korean entertainment industry. Opinions remained split — some observers considered his period of withdrawal insufficient given the nature of the incidents, while others argued that he had undergone adequate self-reflection. Kangin himself cited fan support as a key factor in his decision to return.

"LOVE IS PAIN" and Return to Music

The solo single released on April 15, 2026, represented a deliberate choice of register for a comeback: a warm ballad, written and composed by Kangin himself, with lyrics framed around gratitude toward people who remain close during difficult times. A music video accompanied the release. The personal authorship of the track — unusual for an artist whose career had largely been shaped within a major-label group structure — suggested an effort to present a more direct, unmediated version of himself at a moment when his public standing remained contested.

Beyond Music

Kangin's occupational record includes work as a film, television, and stage actor alongside his music career, though the provided material does not detail specific roles or productions. His most high-profile non-musical moment in recent coverage came in April 2026, when it emerged that he had been the first person to call emergency services after comedian Lee Jin-ho collapsed from an acute cerebral hemorrhage. Lee Jin-ho was hospitalized in intensive care but was reported to be in stable condition. The incident drew renewed attention to Kangin as a public figure in a context entirely separate from the debate over his professional comeback.