Lee Dong-hae, born on October 15, 1986 in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, South Korea (known as Donghae), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. Buoyed by his father's encouragement, Donghae began his career in entertainment by joining SM Entertainment as a trainee after winning a prize at SM's Youth Best Contest in 2001 and after four years of rigorous training, debuted as a member of the 12-member boy group Super Junior with the album Twins in 2005. Over the years, Super Junior achieved international recognition, releasing several top-charting albums and splitting into various sub-unit including Super Junior-M in 2008, whose debut album Me reached Number 1 in China. On December 16, 2011, Donghae and fellow member Eunhyuk established sub-unit duo Super Junior-D&E, releasing debut single "Oppa, Oppa," which climbed to number 13 in Korea and number 2 in Japan the following year. In May, Donghae was cast in the lead role of Mr. Hedgehog in the romantic comedy Miss Panda and Mr. Hedgehog, recording the tracks "Plz Don't" and "Gajima" for its soundtrack. In June 2012, Donghae reunited with Super Junior for their sixth studio album, Sexy, Free & Single, contributing to various acting and dance projects over the coming years including dance group S.M. The Performance and television series The Quiz of God (2014). In 2015, he co-produced Super Junior D&E’s first Korean EP The Beat Goes On, which shot to the top of the Gaon charts, and landed at number 4 on the Billboard US World Album charts. After returning from military service, Donghae recorded "Sarang-ingabwa" in 2018 from the soundtrack of the fantasy television drama Top Management, followed by the non-album single "Harmony" featuring BewhY in 2020. In 2021, Super Junior D&E released their debut Korean album, Countdown, which included Donghae's solo track "California Love" featuring Jeno, and in July 2023, Donghae left SM Entertainment, founding a new label, ODE.ent, to manage his solo activities as well as D&E's endeavours.