After a four-year hiatus due to majority of the members completing their mandatory military service, the sextet established the Shinhwa Company to facilitate their group career.

The release of their tenth album The Return (2012) made them the first Korean boy band to continue performing after the members' mandatory military services.

[5][6] Their work and longevity have served as influences to future generations of K-pop idol groups, leading many to describe the band itself as "legendary".

Resolver's chart performance was lackluster, however, and Shinhwa was accused of lacking originality and duplicating label mate H.O.T.

[10] Although Shinhwa won Best New Artist at the Mnet Asian Music Awards,[11] Resolver underperformed commercially, and the sextet almost disbanded.

Perfect Man debuted atop the Korean monthly chart, becoming Shinhwa's second chart-topping album.

[16] The group collectively chose to sign with Good Entertainment, resulting in a court battle to retain the use of their name, which they won.

[16] Because the contract with Good Entertainment would not begin until 2004, members pursued solo activities in 2003: Min-woo went solo under the name "M," releasing his first album entitled Un-touch-able, while Hye-sung collaborated with Kangta and Lee Ji-hoon for a project group S. Jun Jin branched out into acting with the drama Forbidden Love alongside actress Kim Tae-hee.

[24] They held their second concert The Everlasting Mythology from April 18 to 20, 2003, and also embarked on the Winter Story Tour, traveling to six cities: Seoul, Pusan, Daejeon, Incheon, Daegu, and Kwangju.

[25][26] The album saw increased creative control by the members, with Eric and Min-woo contributing to its production and Jun Jin with the choreography, leading to more dance songs being included in the final release instead of their usual pop music.

[27] It won several accolades for the group, including Best Artist of The Year for the first time at the Seoul Gayo Daesang Awards.

[45] After their 10th anniversary and the release of their 9th album, the members continued to work on their individual activities until their mandatory military service, with Eric enlisting in October 2008 and Dong-wan in November at Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do[46] Both served non-active duty, e.g. they were public service workers, after undergoing four weeks of basic training.

Jun Jin enlisted on October 22, 2009, at the Nonsan military camp in Chungcheongnam-do Province for four weeks of basic training and continued as a public service worker.

[47] On January 11, 2010, Andy enlisted for mandatory military service and was the only member to serve 21 months of active duty.

[49] Dong-wan was discharged on December 17 after serving 24 months as an administrative worker at the Seodaemun-gu District Office.

[50] Andy was discharged from active duty on October 31, 2011, from the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

[54] After their contract with Good Entertainment expired, Shinhwa created their own company to manage their activities as a group, with Eric and Min-woo as co-CEOs and the remaining members as shareholders.

[55][56] A press conference to launch Shinhwa's comeback was held on March 5, 2012, at CGV cinema in Cheongdam-dong, which was streamed live by Mnet Media.

Their 16th anniversary concert, Here, was held on March 22–23, 2014 at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium, which sold out its 27,000 seats and crashed the website server.

[79] In 2015, Shinhwa announced it would be appearing on Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)'s 800th Inkigayo episode, including the return of Andy from his extended hiatus.

[87] In commemoration of their 20th anniversary, Shinhwa released a re-recorded darker version of their song "All Your Dreams" from the album Only One, in addition to filming a new music video.

[90] On August 28, they released their album, Heart, with the title track "Kiss Me Like That" and promoted on music shows for three consecutive weeks.

Their 20th anniversary concert, Heart Tour in Seoul, which will take place October 6–7, sold out within 5 minutes and crashed the website's servers upon ticket release.

[92] Shinhwa is the longest-running Korean boy band in existence,[1][2][3][4] and is often listed as one of the legendary "first generation" K-pop idol groups including H.O.T., S.E.S., Sechs Kies, Fin.K.L, and g.o.d.

They rebranded themselves when the "flower boy" concept, which describes "young males with pretty faces and 'unpretentious cuteness'", became popular; they have continued to adjust their images as they age, incorporating suits and polished haircuts into their looks later on.

[93] With the rise of competition from the "second generation" of idol groups in South Korea, Shinhwa began to make a foray into Asia in 2005, embarking on tours and fan meetings.

Their work have inspired newer generations of artists, including 2PM,[102] Big Bang,[103] Dreamcatcher,[104] EXID,[105] MAP6,[106] and Seventeen,[107] many who strive to one day last as long as the sextet.

Lee Soo Man, the head of SM Entertainment, offered contract renewals to all but Dongwan.

Choosing to sign with a new agency instead, the choice sparked controversies when Lee denied their permission to use the name Shinhwa with the different company.

At the height of the battle in September 2014, the band had to rename the agency Shinhwa Company as ShinCom Entertainment[111] to avoid legal issues.