Super Junior's Leeteuk Talks about the Hardships of Being a Leader

Leeteuk spoke about his distress of being the leader of Super Junior.

On September 12, Super Junior members Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Shindong and Siwon appeared for the continuing episode of “Radio Star” that started last week. During the episode, Leeteuk honestly spoke about his leadership role and started off by saying, “Sometimes, I want to be comforted.”

The MCs asked, “What are the hardships of being a leader?” Leeteuk replied, “I love being the leader. But the hardest part these days is the fact that sometimes, I want to be comforted.”

He continued, “Because I’m the leader, I can’t easily say that things are hard. Since my manager knows me so well, whenever I’m struggling or having a hard time, he immediately asks, ‘What’s wrong? If you get tired, then the other members will get tired too.’ In the past, those words gave me determination but these days, I just want to hear warm words like ‘It’s hard, right? Cheer up.’ Sometimes, I need that kind of comfort.”

Leeteuk then continued to share how he vents his frustration and struggles through his Twitter account. He said, “Sometimes, there are times when I get mentally exhausted.”

He continued, “I could have complained to my manager but I couldn’t. If I did, then my manager would have a hard time. I couldn’t express my frustration to any of the other staff because I don’t really know them well.”

That is how he got to vent through his Twitter. Then Shindong suggested that Leeteuk just talk it out with the other members. Leeteuk replied, “If it was about a group schedule then I would do that but this is about my personal schedule.”

“If I talk about my work to other members who don’t have work, it might seem like I’m showing off,” he said. Leeteuk then showed tears and said he just wanted to hear, “It must be hard for Leeteuk.”

Then the rest of the members cheered Leeteuk on by saying, “I hope you will stay as our leader forever,” “I want to tell you that I love you,” “In my heart, only Leeteuk is the true leader.”