SHINee’s Key got emotional as he remembered the late Jonghyun during his recent appearance on tvN’s You Quiz on the Block.

On the February 12 episode, Key appeared alongside his mother, Kim Sun Hee, and looked back on his long career.

"Including my trainee years, it’s been 20 years," he said before opening up about how deeply he was affected by Jonghyun’s passing.

"At that time, I was really shaken. I kept wondering, ‘What is life? Should I just quit everything?’" Key confessed, showing how much pain he went through.

He recalled SHINee’s Tokyo Dome concert, a tough moment for the group. "I was really struggling back then, but we decided to face it together. If we didn’t have a space to honor him, it felt like it would be too painful," he shared.

Talking about Jonghyun’s legacy, Key added, "Jonghyun-hyung lived such a brilliant yet short youth, and we wanted to send him off in that way."

He added, "Every year, when his birthday or anniversary comes around, I miss him a lot. When we record new songs, I often think, ‘He would have done such a great job with this.’"

Key also revealed that he still feels Jonghyun’s presence. "When I practice, I see him in my dreams a lot. I always feel like he’s still with us," he said. "SHINee will always be five."

Jonghyun debuted with SHINee in 2008 and was loved for hits like Replay, Love Like Oxygen, Dream Girl, and View. Tragically, he passed away on December 18, 2017, at the age of 27.

Key’s heartfelt words touched many fans, proving that Jonghyun’s memory will always live on in SHINee and in the hearts of SHINee World.

Source: [1]

Sunmi is caught up in controversy after the NFT project she promoted made billions of KRW—only to lose most of its value, leaving investors frustrated.

According to Kyunghyang Shinmun on February 21, Sunmi, her agency, and a KOSDAQ-listed company launched the NFT collection Sunmiya Club in February 2022.

The project used blockchain technology to verify ownership of digital assets, turning illustrations inspired by Sunmi’s career into NFTs. Buyers were promised exclusive services to increase their investment value.

Thanks to Sunmi’s strong promotion, the NFTs were a huge success at first, selling out and making billions of KRW.

However, things took a turn when the NFT market crashed due to the Terra-Luna crisis and the bankruptcy of the U.S. crypto exchange FTX in late 2022.

By 2023, Sunmiya Club had stalled, and the once high-value NFTs dropped to just tens of thousands of KRW.

As investors faced major losses, some turned their frustration toward Sunmi. In response, the company behind the project stated, “We have fully followed the roadmap announced at the beginning and have continued operations.

The funds raised from the NFTs were used for operational costs and investments in a new platform launched last year.”

Despite the company’s defense, many are still questioning what went wrong and whether Sunmi will address the backlash.

Source: [1]