Choi Si-won

Choi Si-won (Korean: 최시원; born February 10, 1987), often known simply as Siwon (Korean: 시원), is a South Korean recording artist, actor and model. He is best known as a member of the K-pop boy band Super Junior and its subgroup Super Junior-M. He is also one of the first four South Korean artists to appear on Chinese postage stamps.

Early career beginnings

Siwon was scouted by a talent agent from SM Entertainment when he was 16 as he was waiting for friends in front of his high school. The agent recommended him to audition for the company's Starlight Casting System to become an entertainer. Siwon knew his parents would object, so he had to secretly audition. Siwon's parents were later notified that he had passed the auditions. Although his parents allowed him to sign a contract with SM Entertainment, they did not give him any help because they wanted him to take responsibility in his actions.

He later moved into dormitories with fellow trainees and was trained in areas of singing, acting, and dancing. SM Entertainment saw potential for him in acting, and thus gave him training in the field. He made his first appearance in a music video of The Grace's Dana when he was still a solo singer in 2003. A year after, Siwon made a brief appearance in the short drama, Precious Family. In 2005, Siwon made a brief appearance in the KBS drama Eighteen, Twenty-Nine as the young Kang Bong-man.