Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
My Long Form Channel: youtube.com/@EvanCarmichael
Yunho of TVXQ used to sleep in a Seoul subway station with nothing but newspapers as a bed. In the early 2000s, Yunho dreamed of becoming a singer, and when he won a prize at an SM Entertainment talent competition in 1999, he signed with the company and decided to move to Seoul to train. He left his hometown of Gwangju alone with only 380,000 Korean won in his pocket, about 327 dollars.
His family had been hit hard by South Korea's 1997 financial crisis, and his father wanted him to focus on his studies and become a prosecutor, not a singer. Because of that, his father cut him off financially. Yunho worked as many jobs as he could, clearing snow in the early mornings and waiting tables at night just to survive in the city. On nights when he had no place to stay, he slept at the subway station.
He once laid newspapers on the ground to sleep, but a homeless man woke him up and told him to move in a scary voice. Through all of it, only one person stood by him, his grandfather. Right before Yunho was set to debut, he got a phone call that his grandfather was in critical condition.
Before his grandfather passed away, he gave Yunho a thumbs up, a signal that he was proud of him and believed he would succeed. Today, Yunho still raises his thumb at every single performance, a personal promise to show his grandfather he made it. TVXQ has since sold over 14 million records worldwide and is known across Asia as one of the bestselling K-pop groups of all time.
You are allowed to outgrow the plan your family had for you. Yunho did, and he never stopped believing it would pay off. His story is proof that the hardest years can still lead to the life you were chasing.
#Motivation #Shorts #EvanCarmichael
My Long Form Channel: youtube.com/@EvanCarmichael
Yunho of TVXQ used to sleep in a Seoul subway station with nothing but newspapers as a bed. In the early 2000s, Yunho dreamed of becoming a singer, and when he won a prize at an SM Entertainment talent competition in 1999, he signed with the company and decided to move to Seoul to train. He left his hometown of Gwangju alone with only 380,000 Korean won in his pocket, about 327 dollars.
His family had been hit hard by South Korea's 1997 financial crisis, and his father wanted him to focus on his studies and become a prosecutor, not a singer. Because of that, his father cut him off financially. Yunho worked as many jobs as he could, clearing snow in the early mornings and waiting tables at night just to survive in the city. On nights when he had no place to stay, he slept at the subway station.
He once laid newspapers on the ground to sleep, but a homeless man woke him up and told him to move in a scary voice. Through all of it, only one person stood by him, his grandfather. Right before Yunho was set to debut, he got a phone call that his grandfather was in critical condition.
Before his grandfather passed away, he gave Yunho a thumbs up, a signal that he was proud of him and believed he would succeed. Today, Yunho still raises his thumb at every single performance, a personal promise to show his grandfather he made it. TVXQ has since sold over 14 million records worldwide and is known across Asia as one of the bestselling K-pop groups of all time.
You are allowed to outgrow the plan your family had for you. Yunho did, and he never stopped believing it would pay off. His story is proof that the hardest years can still lead to the life you were chasing.
#Motivation #Shorts #EvanCarmichael
