The opening concert of SS4 in Seoul was an overwhelming success. Tickets were sold out soon after the concert was even announced, and the fan reaction was even greater than we initially anticipated. Following the kick-off, we can predict that SS4 will continue to lead to a snowball effect, with SM Entertainment as the obvious benefactor. 

I would like to withdraw my previous doubt about the boys' choices of solo performances during the concert. If the intensity of the fans' screams and the discussions we were able to follow on Twitter are good indications, the fans enjoyed all of the solos immensely. This includes "Moves Like Jagger" by Ryeowook. While I, personally, was horrified, it seems to be all the fangirls can talk about. I miscalculated the apparently ic pleasure of seeing a man with a sweet, innocent image perform something completely opposite of that image, and I apologize.

As far as the quality of the performances goes, my only concern is with Zhou Mi. The song accentuated his vocal talent wonderfully, but I do believe we'll have to train him more thoroughly on correct pronunciation of English. I am hardly an expert on this, being raised entirely in Korea, but at the same time, if I can notice, then surely our foreign audience will notice even more strongly. If I am not mistaken, we do hope to expand the group's influence internationally in the next few years, although the plan you have given me states that the company will give the group much less attention from now on, while it focuses on new groups.

We will have to change the setlist slightly for every concert stop, but I have confidence that they will produce the same results as the original. I have attached the setlists for Osaka, Taipei, and Singapore. All scheduled concerts on the tour after these three will take place after I will have departed the company in March, and thus will instead be under the jurisdiction of my current apprentice, Lee CheonHwa. Based on her performance thus far, I do believe that she should be capable of handling the group by that time.

The members of Super Junior show incredible promise, considering their age. I recommend continued monitoring of the group to ensure that they do not leave the company once their current contract period is up. They may be advancing in age, with Leeteuk being the prime example, but I do believe that the group is still capable of providing the company with considerable profit, and allowing them to leave SM Entertainment would be a significant blow to our current income. Especially following an album and tour combination as successful as Mr. Simple and SS4, Super Junior is easily one of our highest sources of income, overshadowed only by Yunho and Changmin of DBSK. 

As for the members' emotional states, they now are close enough to be annoyingly clingy. They are constantly asking me questions they most likely already know the answer to, and insist that I accompany them to even the most minor of events, such as an after-party. They also refuse to accept any kind of refusal, such as claiming honestly that I have work to do. In this regard, they are irritatingly troublesome. It is impossible to get any work done while they demand every moment of my attention. I am forced to become increasingly harsh in my dealings with them in order to make them focus on their own work.

In closing, despite the amount of time I have spent with the group, I cannot honestly tell you why the group is as successful as it is. They do have vocal talent, but it can't possibly be more than any other groups. They can dance, or at least some can, while the others consistently make mistakes. They make almost no effort to maintain a consistent image, neither as a group or as individuals. Despite this, the group continues to succeed, and to have an incredibly loyal fanbase that shows no signs of shrinking. I suspect, in fact, that we have not even begun to take advantage of the sheer size of the ELF fandom, even with our expansion to Europe with the current Super Show. I do not know how they succeed, but they do. They continue to surprise me.

I do hope to find the answer before I depart the company in March. Until then, I will continue to observe the group as closely as I can.

-Han Heeyung