SS501's Park Jung Min has high hopes for 2011, as he was born in the year of the rabbit back in 1987.  He's been gearing up for his solo debut since late last year and has released a Japanese photobook, "Present," and opened fan signings since then. His first solo album will be released on January 20th and his schedule is jam packed with events for the year. He stated, "In January, I'll be promoting my album in Korea.  An international tour in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Thailand is planned for February.  Starting April, I'll be filming for a drama in Taiwan.  I'll be coming home once in a while for fan meetings and my birthday, but I think I'll be fully immersed in the drama for three months.  In May, I'll be releasing a Japanese album followed by Chinese promotions.  For the second half of the year, I'll return to Korea and announce my drama filming and new album." Even upon first glance, his schedule looks busy and breathless, and even though he claims himself to be a lazy person by nature, Park revealed that he pushes himself to work hard because he no longer has the safety of his fellow SS501 members that have been by his side for the past five years.

He continued, "At first, I didn't agree to what we're doing now because I loved the comfort of being a part of a group.  But now that we're all walking separate paths in an effort to learn new things, I decided that this would be a good opportunity for me to learn and improve myself.  I could've settled for what I had, but this solo debut has allowed me to break out of the cage I put myself in." Park Jung Min first declared his debut last November in the form of a digital single, but postponed it to February due to the Yeonpyeong Island incident.  He took the delay as an opportunity to add more tracks to the album and release it as a full official album.  Unfortunately, the 15,000 singles that he already printed were trashed due to the change. "I rushed the preparations so there were a lot of things missing, and I instead took the opportunity to start new.  I'm the first out of SS501 to be releasing a solo album so I felt the pressure and responsibility.  I trashed everything I had and re-recorded everything and edited the music video again as well.  You can definitely look forward to it," he explained.

His first showcase/fan meeting scheduled for the 22nd has sold out within 14 minutes of the tickets going on sale.  "They said that starting from this year till I turn 30, my future will be like a broad and level road.  So much luck is coming in even now, I'm really looking forward to this year."

Source + Photos: Economy Today via Nate