One of the subunits of Super Junior is Super Junior-M, which is the first musical act in the Chinese music market to have members of both Korean and Chinese descent. Henry Lau was part of this group, but he left SM Entertainment in 2018. Four years have passed since then, so let's take a look at his current whereabouts.

Henry Lau's Controversial Debut in Super Junior-M

In October 2007, Henry Lau was announced as one of the first two members of Super Junior-M, along with Super Junior's original member Han Geng. Henry was a new member at that time, and this caused the group's fanclub, E.L.F, to hold protests to express their dissatisfaction and opposition of adding a 14th member, fearing that one member from the original lineup would get "replaced."

Despite the protests, Henry still made his debut as a Super Junior-M member in Beijing, China on April 8, 2008 with the release of the music video for their first song "U." Their debut album "Me" was subsequently released on April 23.

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Five years later, Super Junior-M Henry debuted as a solo artist on May 30, 2013, becoming SM Entertainment's first male soloist in 13 years since H.O.T. Kangta. He dropped his first solo EP, titled "Trap," which contains the titular title song (featuring Super Junior Kyuhyun and SHINee Taemin).

After being with SM Entertainment for 10 years, Henry Lau decided to leave the agency.

Why Did Henry Leave SM Entertainment?

On April 30, 2018, SM Entertainment announced that Henry's exclusive contract had expired and that they had ended on good terms. They added, "Henry plans on establishing a one-man agency to continue his activities."

The company didn't specify whether the idol would leave Super Junior-M as well. But years before this announcement, he was seen changing his Weibo profile bio to "Former Super Junior-M member" in August 2016. It was then assumed that his departure from SM also meant he was parting ways with the subunit.

Henry Lau Update: Idol's Status After Leaving SM Entertainment & Super Junior-M

At present, former Super Junior-M Henry remains signed with AXIS and Monster Entertainment Group. He also runs his one-man agency in China.

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After leaving SM Entertainment in April 2018, Lau has gone on to found his own personal studio in China and also forged a partnership with a Korean agency, The Cre8tive Lab. Seven months later, he established another agency, Monster Entertainment Group, but this time it was based in South Korea.

Monster Entertainment Group is a global management label Henry co-established with his brother, Clinton (the CEO). In December 2018, he signed with AXIS, a music label founded by former YG creative director, SINXITY.

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Since founding his own companies in China and South Korea, Lau has been actively releasing songs and appearing on television shows. One of his latest releases is the "Jirisan" OST Part 12, "Harmony of Leaves" (featuring Park Jin Woo), which came out in December 2021.

His most recent TV project is the fourth season of "Street Dance of Chinal" where heacted as one of the four team captains together with EXO Lay, former UNIQ member Wang Yibo, and former Super Junior member Han Geng.

In addition to carrying out his entertainment activities, former Super Junior-M Henry currently manages his own restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul in South Korea, which he opened in mid-2018.

The restaurant is called "Xiao Zhan" and serves Taiwanese and Chinese cuisines. It has since been receiving rave reviews from customers.

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Written by Maria Scott