SHINee's Minho Talks About Impact Of Girl Groups, Friendship With TVXQ's Changmin

It's not just music that Choi Minho is passionate about. The K-pop Idol, who served in South Korea's Marine Corps, says he loves challenges and is willing to take up tough tasks.

The SHINee band member appeared Tuesday on SBS's variety show "Problem Child in House" as a guest and shared his experience serving in the Marine Corps. The singer-turned-actor completed his mandatory service in November 2020. When asked about his experience, the singer said he likes such challenges.

"I'm the type that likes a challenge. I knew it would be difficult, but since I had to go to the military anyway, I wanted to experience the challenge," he said.

The singer also revealed that he began to appreciate girl groups a lot more after experiencing the impact of their work during his service. He said he likes several bands including Blackpink, Itzy, Twice and Red Velvet.

"I came to respect girl groups a lot. They were a big source of strength. When we watched girl group music videos in the morning, it would give us strength for the day. We watched them to the point where I'd memorized it down to the second," he said, Soompi reported. "I saw Red Velvet differently than I had before. They were close juniors [before I enlisted], but in the military, it felt like they were on a different level."

SHINee released its latest comeback album and music video, titled "Don't Call Me," on Monday.

"All of us were passionate about the album since it had been a while. We poured everything we had into the choreography as if it was the last thing we’d do. It’s so tough to even do it," Minho said about the band's comeback following a long hiatus.

The 29-year-old shared that TVXQ's Changmin, his best friend and fellow labelmate, had taken care of him while he was serving in the military.

"During our training period, we can't use cell phones. We could get online letters, but we were only able to read one per day. So around midnight, fans would send me a lot of letters. I looked forward to reading them, but one day, I saw that Changmin had sent me a letter. He'd sent one at midnight to get his through. He tried again and again until he got his through right at 12:00 a.m," the singer said.

"He asked me how I was doing, if it was hard, that he knew it was hard. I could feel tears welling up out of emotion. We have a lot of hobbies in common like soccer and watching movies. At the end of the letter, he told me that he’d seen 'Avengers: Endgame,' which I'd really wanted to see but hadn’t gotten the chance. He then spoiled the contents of the whole movie for me. My tears completely dried up," he added.