Saldaga

In 2004, SG Wannabe released their debut album, SG Wanna Be +. The album sold 210,000 copies and won the group three Best New Artist awards at ceremonies such as the Seoul Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards.^[1][2] SG Wannabe's follow-up album was set to release on January 19, 2005, but was delayed due to busy schedules.^[3] In February of that year, news outlets reported that Han Eun-jung and Jang Shin-young would appear in the music video for "Sin and Punishment", directed by Cha Eun-taek, from SG Wannabe's upcoming album.^[4] The group first performed the song on March 5, during a special concert promoting the drama Sad Love Story.^[5]

"Sin and Punishment" was SG Wannabe's title track for this album. It is a mid-tempo song. "Sin and Punishment" was one of the most popular songs of 2005. "Saldaga" (also known as "As We Live" or "While You Live") was the follow-up track. A two-part drama music video was released for "Sin and Punishment" and "Saldaga". The music videos starred Ha Seok-jin, Seo Jun-young, and Han Eun-jung. "Craze" was an upbeat tracked that was loved by many fans, and a remix version was released as a music video which featured Han Eun-jung and Hwang Jung-eum.

Saldaga was met with commercial success in South Korea upon its release. It peaked at number one on the monthly album chart compiled by the Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK) in April 2005, opening with sales of 129,801 copies.^[6] It sold 93,162 copies the following month and remained at number one in May.^[7] On April 28, 2005, it was reported that the album had garnered revenue of ₩4 billion.^[8] The amount soon rose to almost ₩10 billion (US$9 million), with revenue from digital download sales alone accounting for ₩4.3 billion.^[9]

Saldaga was the best-selling album in South Korea during 2005, selling 414,855 copies.^[10] Sina Entertainment named it one of the Top 10 Asian Albums of the year, alongside records such as BoA's Best of Soul, Ayumi Hamasaki's My Story, Koda Kumi's Best: First Things, TVXQ's Rising Sun and Mika Nakashima's Music.^[11]

A special edition of the album was released on June 13, 2005, attracting rare praise from former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In January 2014, Star News named Saldaga the second-most successful digital album in released South Korea since 2004, tied with Big Bang's Stand Up (2008) and 2NE1's 2NE1 1st Mini Album (2009).^[16]