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2000s

In 2008, Onew was chosen as the leader of the group SHINee. He officially debuted with rest of the group members on May 25, 2008, on SBS's Inkigayo. Onew started in 2006 to contribute in writing singles for fellow singer Lee Hyun Ji, these songs turned out to be Vanilla Love and Vanilla Love Part. 2, both songs were huge chart toppers in the music charts. He also collaborated with former Girls' Generation's Jessica on the song One Year Later on her EP Tell Me Your Wish mini album, as well as for a duet with Kim Yeonwoo on the song The Name I Loved for SHINee's at that time third mini album 2009, Year of Us.

He also wrote the lyrics for the song Your Name from SHINee's second studio album Lucifer, that song, in particular, is a clear standout and a fan favorite. He later decided to try his luck in the field of musical theater and had that opportunity in 2010 by appearing in two. He debuted in the starring role in the jukebox musical Brothers Were Brave with fellow singer Lee Ji Hoon, and he then starred in the Korean production of the US musical Rock of Ages where he portrayed the lead role, he was acclaimed in both roles by critics and audiences alike.

2010s

Onew then started to take new risks in his career and decided to try acting for a change, he started by appearing in tiny bits in dramas, such as his cameo role as an extremely clumsy doctor on 2010's SBS romantic drama Dr. Champ, he surprised many fans in that role because of his talent and skill, his comedic timing was also praised. He also had a few other cameo roles, the most relevant was in episode seven of 2010's SBS espionage drama Athena: Goddess of War, where he portrayed himself in that episode, a nice nod to his fame and relevance to his fanbase.

In 2010, he recorded a song for the romantic comedy-drama series To The Beautiful You titled In Your Eyes, he also sang another song for the romance drama series Miss Korea this one titled Moonlight. He then appeared in 2014, in the reality show Laws of the Jungle, a year later, in 2015, he appeared in the lead role in the web drama series Dating was the Easiest, he was selected out of 2,000 people who auditioned for the lead role, Onew was chosen according to those who were in charge of the production of the web drama series because of his determination and preparation for his audition and also because he made some convincing observations and a well-thought analysis regarding his lead role.

Dating was the Easiest was based on a popular webtoon of the same name, Onew portrayed in the web drama series a tiger spirit of the mountains who ends up falling in love with a high school girl, viewers were delighted to see a heartwarming and also quite boisterous romance between a normal human character with an animal spirit, Onew's acting, in particular, drew praise.

2014, was also a very difficult year for Onew, in June, he underwent a vocal cord polyp removal and vocal fold mucosa reconstruction operation, his fans were worried, although not as much as the rest of the members of SHINee, the agency or Onew himself, after the operation, Onew could not even sing a single note in the slightest, there were rumours that Onew had lost his voice, but were denied in December 2014, when his vocal coach stated that Onew's condition had in fact improved.

A couple of years later, in 2016, he demonstrated his range as an actor by appearing in a supporting turn in Descendants of the Sun, it was named by Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation the Most Popular Show of the year, over the course of the drama he portrayed first-year resident Dr. Lee Chi Hoon, the drama itself was a huge success nationwide and worldwide, it even broke viewership records in China, Onew's acting was lauded by critics and viewers. Onew was even awarded a Newcomer Scene Stealer Award at the 2016 Scene Stealer Festival for his role.

Sexual Harassment Allegations

In 2017, he was confirmed to be part of the ensemble cast of JTBC's romantic drama series Age of Youth 2, he was going to play the character Kwon Ho Chang, the boyfriend of one of the leads and who is an engineer who has no knowledge about dating, but he ended up leaving the role after sexual harassment allegations started to surface against him. Onew didn't take part on SHINee's scheduled concerts in Japan because of the sexual harassment allegations.

The victim of sexual harassment stated that Onew on August 12, in a nightclub in Gangnam, started to touch her leg a few times as he tried to stand up, it all happened over the course of two hours while she was dancing on one of the club's multiple dancing platforms that were adjacent to where Onew was seated. She later ended up acknowledging that such an incident could happen because of one being inebriated and she decided to withdraw the charge. however, the case was still forwarded to the prosecution as a recommendation for indictment without detention.

After several months on hiatus, Onew wrote an apology letter for his fans to read, it was widely accepted by fans as a sincere note of apology for his misbehavior but also there were people who were enraged and started calling him to step down from SHINee. The charges were later dismissed by the prosecution and Onew was later reinstated formally once again into the group.

2018-onwards

As of late, he is currently working his way into fans forgiveness and repent from his actions by working hard alongside the rest of SHINee members to keep making good music, putting for the time being his acting career on hold.