Super Junior 83Z on aging in K-pop: "It wouldn't be strange to call me dad"

Super Junior 83Z — Lee Teuk and Kim Hee-chul's unit, named after their 1983 birth year — appeared on KBS2TV's 더 시즌즈-성시경의 고막남친 on July 24 alongside fellow member Ryeo-wook. The conversation circled around one thing: what life looks like at 44 in an industry that keeps getting younger.

They'd just released their first mini album, 너를 위한 약속 (Promise for You). The broadcast gave them space to sit with what it actually feels like to be veteran idols in 2026. Kim Hee-chul said receiving greetings from juniors at music shows feels genuinely awkward. "When they come to greet me, I say 'You're the best' and run away." He also mentioned that Aina, a member of their label's girl group Hatsutohats, has a mother who is the same age as him and Lee Teuk.

Lee Teuk didn't shy away from it. "It wouldn't be strange to call me 'dad,'" he said. Trainees' parents are now from the 1990s generation. "The aging of the entertainment industry is a big problem. I think Super Junior is raising the average age of idols too much, so I apologize."

Both men agreed their fanbase has aged alongside them. Lee Teuk pointed out that fans showed up to the recording and told the members not to lose heart. Kim Hee-chul noticed something specific about the crowd: "These days it's written in LED, but they wrote it by hand. They're truly long-time precious Super Junior fans." (Handwritten fan signs in 2026 really do hit different.)

Kim Hee-chul summed up what he picks up from the public: "I receive a lot of 'hang in there' energy. It feels like everyone is a fan — the reaction is 'you're working so hard like that.'"