Lee Donghae (born October 15, 1986), better known mononymously as Donghae (lit. East Sea), is a Korean singer and occasional actor. He is a part of the thirteen member South Korean boyband Super Junior. He is one of the three main dancers alongside fellow band members Eunhyuk and Shindong, and is part of its subgroup, Super Junior-M. Donghae is also one of the first four Korean artists to appear on Chinese postage stamps.Donghae was born in Mokpo, Jeollanam on October 15, 1986 . Donghae initially wanted to become an athlete, but under the influence of his father, who once desired to become a singer, Donghae decided to train himself to become a singer.
In 2001, Donghae successfully signed a contract with SM Entertainment soon after he jointly won the Best Outward Appearance award with future band mate Sungmin on the company's third annual SM Youth Best Contest. Under SM Entertainment, Donghae was put in singing, dancing, and acting lessons that same year. He was then recruited into a five-member boy band Smile, with future band mate Leeteuk, but the idea was soon dropped.
In 2004, Donghae- along with Leeteuk- was put into another boy band and formed Super Junior with eleven other trainees. The group later became known as Super Junior 05, the presumed first generation of the rotational music group, Super Junior. Several days before the group debuted, Donghae made a brief appearance in November 2005 at SBS's Shin Dong-yup's There Is There Isn't panel.
On the 8th of August 2006, Donghae's father died due to cancer. The event still proves to be a difficult memory for him due to the close relationship they shared. In Super Junior's 4th Album (2010), Donghae's thank you is dedicated almost entirely to his father.
