Shin Dong-hee was born in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do on September 28, 1985. Very little is known about Shindong’s personal life, and many thought he was an only child. He has a younger sister called Ahn Da Young. Having a love for dancing, Shindong signed up for the 2002 Goyangsi Youth Dance contest and won the grand prize. A year later, he joined the contest again and won gold. In 2004, Shindong joined the Mnet Epi Contest and won both the gold prize and popularity award. In 2005, Shindong signed up for the SM Best Youth Contest and won first place for Best Comedian, achieving the grand prize. He signed a contract with SM Entertainment and received lessons to further improve his dancing ability.

Shindong officially debuted as part of 12-member project group Super Junior 05 on November 6, 2005, on SBS’s music programme Popular Songs, performing their first single, “Twins (Knock Out)”. Their debut album SuperJunior05 (Twins) was released a month later on December 5, and debuted at number three on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.

In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix “05” and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group’s first CD single “U” was released on June 7, 2006, which was their most successful single until the release of “Sorry, Sorry” in March 2009.

During his career with Super Junior, Shindong was put into two subgroups, smaller groups that are branched off of the larger Super Junior group. In February 2007, he was placed in the trot-singing Super Junior-T. A year later, he became a member of Super Junior-H.

While Shindong had prior acting experiences as a comedian, his acting debut was in the Super Junior film Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, which premiered on July 26, 2007. In 2008, Shindong played a major supporting role in the mini television series Single Dad in Love and also participated in the drama’s original soundtrack. He and radio partner Kim Shin-young appeared in an episode of popular MBC drama Queen of Housewives.

On April 19, 2007, almost two months after Super Junior-T’s release of their first single “Rokuko”, Leeteuk and Kyuhyun became seriously injured in a car accident, along with Shindong, Eunhyuk, and two managers, when returning home after a recording of the radio show Super Junior Kiss the Radio. While they were on the highway, the front left tire burst as the driver was switching lanes and the van ran into the guard rail/medium on the driver’s side and skidded for about 30 metres. At some point, the momentum caused the van to flip over on its right side.

Five days after Super Junior 05’s debut performance, Shindong became the emcee of Mnet’s music program M!Countdown along with Leeteuk and Kangin. They stayed as the hosts throughout the remaining year until Kangin was replaced by Eunhyuk in mid-2006. The trio’s last day of hosting was on March 27, 2008.

From 2009, Shindong, along with Eunhyuk and Leeteuk, had been regular guests on SBS’s Strong Heart, where they hosted a special segment, Boom Academy, headed by entertainer Boom. On March 28, 2012, SM Entertainment announced Shindong’s departure from the show. As of the April 10, 2012, broadcast, following the change in MCs and his departure, the show was re-vamped with Leeteuk and Eunhyuk, Kim Hyo-jin, Jung Ju-ri and Yang Se-hyung, billed as the ‘six-fixed guests’.

On September 27, 2011, he along with Yesung and Eunhyuk filled in for bandmate Heechul, who enlisted for mandatory military service on September 1, during the performance on Music Bank and Show! Music Core of Kim Jang-hoon latest single, “Breakups are So Like Me”. Heechul is featured in the song and starred in the music video, which was completed the day before he enlisted.

On November 5, 2014, S.M. Entertainment announced that Shindong will enlist in the army on November 25, 2014. However, due to a back problem, his enlistment was delayed until a further date the next year.

On March 24, 2015, Shindong quietly enlisted in the military without any fanfare or interviews with the press. He was scheduled to enter his service in Incheon.

He was discharged from his military duty on December 23, 2016, after serving 21 months of active duty at the 55th army division’s military band.