Jo Hyun Jae

These photos may have been taken during the first weeks of basic military training in August 2008 and show a very happy and relaxed Jo Hyun-Jae with his camp-mates.

We apologise for the quality of the photos, but anything is better than nothing. The photos may not be of the highest quality, but it is clear JHJ is very much at home with his camp-mates, just one of the boys.

(Photos courtesy of dearjohyunjae.com)

If you’re a daily visitor to our blog, you might be wondering why there was no new post yesterday (5/20/09).

Could it be:

1. We’ve run out of ideas, so nothing more to write about.

2. Our blog has run into some problems.

3. Editor is in the air (incommunicado).

4. We’re on strike (in protest).

Answer: ALL of the above

(not really 1. — we still have plenty to write about JHJ, but we’re suffering from temporary mental fatigue.)

Recently something happened that made us very unhappy. And disclosing it here might make us disappear from the world of JHJ, as someone put it. Now we’re not afraid because: 1. we don’t buckle under pressure, and 2. JHJ is in our hearts, so there’s no way we can lose one another.

Our blog has been in existence for exactly 100 days. If you’ve watched a lot of Korean dramas, you’ll know young lovers like to celebrate their 100 days together. (I suppose 100 days is a long time in a relationship nowadays.) We’re celebrating our first 100 days in a special way (no cakes or flowers, sorry!) by declaring our Manifesto — why and how we manage our blog — our raison d’etre (reason for existence).

My blog partner M and I are ordinary JHJ fans. We have no fan club as our base. We are just a two-women team. In the normal course of things, we would have gone to our separate graves never crossing paths (since we live in different parts of the world.) But because of JHJ we’ve met. Our shared love for JHJ makes us want to do something for him, for those fans of his who can read only English, so more people will get to know him — because he deserves it. Now I’m a shy person (and so is M) who would always stand at the back in a group photo (unlike JHJ who says in a Q & A that he usually stands in the centre) [See our earlier post "Everything you want to know about JHJ (and much, much more)"]. Sometimes you don’t see me at all because everybody is taller than me; other times I get pushed to the front. What I’m trying to say is: If it hadn’t been for JHJ, wild horses could not have dragged me out of my “retirement”. It’s all M’s fault, she said: “Why don’t we start our own fan club?” (since we don’t quite fit in the others.) “M & M?” I replied, “No, thanks! I don’t like crowds. Solitaire is my favourite game.”

We then considered starting a blog. With a blog we don’t have to see anybody, or deal with anybody (we thought.) A strange phenomenon in today’s world is — every other person has his/her own blog, even though sometimes even they themselves don’t know what they’re blabbing about. Just as some people love the sound of their own voice, others love to see themselves in print (especially if they are unpublished writers who think they deserve better.) We knew nothing about how to start a blog. In January when I was in the U.S., I asked my brother who is an amateur photographer and who has a website. He said it’s easy; all you have to do is pay for one. I was busy with other things, so this was relegated to the back of my mind.

The day before I left the U.S., my brother called to ask if I had a Google account, and then, almost as an afterthought, “What’s the name of that Korean actor?” Half an hour later he called again when I was vacuuming (almost didn’t hear the call) and said: “OK, I’ve registered a blog for you. Free and very user-friendly. Just go in and play around with it………and oh! BTW, found a good-looking photo of the chap and posted it on your blog.” It wasn’t until late afternoon that I had time to access my blog for the first time. One look and I almost had a heart attack! I found myself staring at a photo of Jo Hyun-Jae in military uniform (from the press conference of “G.P.506″) and underneath it, the caption: “South Korea promotes JHJ to Lieutenant-General”. I felt like murdering my brother! He was a naughty little boy and now he’s a mischievous middle-aged man. I called his home at once; his wife said he’s out walking the dog. I called his cell phone but there was no answer. (He’d left his phone at home.) I was in a panic. I was scared this could get JHJ in trouble. I am near-computer-illiterate. I had never even been in a blog. I clicked everything in sight, and after what seemed an eternity, the caption disappeared (and so did the photo.) I wasn’t sure if my blog was still there. Then my brother called. I gave him a piece of my mind in no uncertain terms. (He’s my younger brother.) He said: “What’s the big deal? Who believes anything on the internet?” I said: “Some people might. You don’t joke about military business. JHJ is only Private Second Class and you’ve promoted him to Lieutenant-General!”

I am actually very grateful to my brother for registering this blog for me. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be writing this now. If you’ve ever wondered why our blog is called “Jo-Hyun-Jae”, that’s because “Jo Hyun Jae” was already taken. My brother has lived in the west for the greater part of his life, and he has no idea Korean surnames come first (like Chinese surnames.) He does not know which is which, whether JO or JAE is the last name, so to be safe he just hyphens everything. Only recently did I learn who owns “Jo Hyun Jae”, and she’s not even using it. I suppose “What’s mine is mine, so nobody else can have it.” I don’t understand such mentality.

The blog remained empty for a few weeks until, on a lark, M and I decided to go to JHJ’s photo exhibition in Osaka in February. We garnered plenty of first-hand material, so we decided to launch our blog with “We spent Valentine’s Day with JHJ”. Writing comes easily to me; I just write what is in my heart. What you see is what you get. My partner M is a near-computer-genius (compared to me.) She is also a good writer (though she doesn’t know it.) We make a perfect team. So there we were scribbling away, working hard to build up our blog, learning something new every day, immersed in the world of JHJ (but we do have a life of our own; we’re experts at multi-tasking.) We would be on cloud nine whenever we discover a new Follower, read a new comment, or receive a new e-mail. Someone suggests we add a new feature to register the number of hits on our blog each day. What for? Even if we are the only two people reading our blog, we would still carry on (for as long as we can.) Now M and I are both people of high esteem but no ego. We’re not doing this for fame or fortune — we don’t need the first and we have enough of the second (we lead very simple lives; we’re very low-maintenance.)

We’re very happy every day locating news of JHJ, translating them into English, choosing the pictures to go with them, and writing on our own favourite topics. Even before JHJ’s birthday on May 9, anticipation was in the air — everybody was expecting his new photos. Except for one photo of JHJ and his camp-mates, released during his first weeks of training, there has been nothing for nine months. On one of his rare days out, JHJ gave us a photo of his military uniform. What a wry sense of humour! He must know that Chinese saying: “Seeing his things makes you think of that person.” When he was on leave in late April, JHJ did not leave a message for his fans, so expectation was really boiling over.

Then on the evening of May 13, our Japanese “spy” (she’s a darling!) sent me an URGENT e-mail: “Go to JHJ FC RIGHT NOW! Pics out!” There he was! Three gorgeous photos of JHJ in his military uniform. I frantically SKYPE(d) M and we immediately got to work. Now I’d like to state categorically that we’re not in the habit of lifting anything from the Official JHJ Fan Club website (which is not exactly a treasure trove.) But this is special! Everybody has been so looking forward to these photos. Every JHJ fan wants to know what he looks like now. M and I discussed it for ten minutes and decided to stick our necks out. The photos and report were posted on the official website at 6:30 p.m., and we posted ours at 8 p.m.

Almost immediately the responses poured in. JHJ fans were all so happy to see him looking so fit and healthy — “every inch a soldier”, as one put it. We were very gratified we made the day (or night) of so many JHJ fans. I must confess to one oversight, however — in our excitement and eagerness, we forgot to add: “For copyright reasons, please do not reproduce or transfer photos.” (which we did first thing the next morning.)

Our elation was short-lived — the next morning we were taken to task! We were told we should not have posted the photos, that anything on the official website was for members only. I immediately wrote to the Official Fan Club for clarification, twice, in fact. I asked if we’re allowed to post their photos and news on our blog.* I don’t remember signing anything when we enrolled, but then we didn’t register online (like other members.) We did it in person at the JHJ photo exhibition in Osaka in February. (Read about this in our first post “We spent Valentine’s Day with JHJ (Part 1)”.) All we had to do was give our personal particulars, and the fan club staff on site took care of the paperwork (or rather, computer work.) We immediately checked the small print of the Official Fan Club website, and sure enough, there’s a clause that says (in standard legalese) reports and photos may not be reproduced without permission. (Of course it’s in Japanese, and we can’t even read Japanese! Thank God for translation gadgets!) Then why is it that we see these so-called “exclusive” photos occasionally appearing in various JHJ websites in the last several months?

Now we are law-abiding citizens — we respect intellectual property; we do not infringe copyright. One of our readers suggested we upload the OST of JHJ’s dramas and we replied we could not do that. I know you can find songs from JHJ’s CD on the web, but don’t ask me how they got there. I was worried. I wanted to consult our in-house counsel (my son, Ha!Ha!) who’s unfortunately in another time zone and it’s the middle of the night where he is. I checked the official website again and (shock!) found the photos GONE! (Later, the report was also deleted.) Gosh! What have we done? I immediately removed our post on the latest JHJ photos (just to be on the safe side.) Our post was on for only about 16 hours, but (Oh! the power of the internet!) those JHJ photos have already been transferred all over the place. The reaction from JHJ fans everywhere was the same — everybody was happy to see him looking so well.

It’s been seven days since our blog removed those JHJ photos, but they are still on display on several JHJ websites, some openly, some restricted (to their fan club members.) The reason given for not publishing those photos was JHJ’s interest must be protected. (We have no quarrel with that.) Unscrupulous people could use his image for illegal purposes, that is, producing souvenirs without paying JHJ royalties. Now I wonder whether the manufacturers of those JHJ souvenirs we bought in Seoul on our recent visit paid royalties to JHJ or his management company Star n Hit. That singing cup with the tune of “Like the wind by your side”, the posters, the mouse pads, the calendars, the mugs, etc. etc., even the umbrella — everything that uses his image — Is JHJ being ripped off?

Apparently it all boils down to one thing — If you want to see JHJ, pay. Become a member of the Official JHJ Fan Club and you can get the latest news (extremely scant) and photos (first new ones in several months.) Quite a few people I know wanted to join but could not get past the hurdles. Why do they make it so difficult for non-Japanese? Don’t they want more people to join? If we had not been so persistent in Osaka, we would not have made it either. From the number on our membership cards, we know roughly how many members they have, but we’re not telling. Has anyone ever wondered why the official fan club of a Korean actor is in Japan? We have our theory, but we’re not sharing.

Now regarding other websites’ practice of “saving” these photos for their own paying members, what can I say? We paid a fee to join the Japan Official JHJ Fan Club. We found these photos. (Yes, we had a scoop; we were the first!) We shared them with JHJ fans all over the world. And we have become persona non grata. We commit the “crime”; they enjoy the spoils. Other people take “our” photos and made them their own and are raking in the profits. You take a photo from the internet, crop off the original name and put your own label, and it becomes yours? These photos belong to the Official JHJ Fan Club, but the photos I took at the JHJ photo exhibition in Osaka received the same treatment. We found them circulating on the internet with some other websites’ name stamped on them. We may be new kids on the block but we’re not born yesterday. Such things are just not kosher, if you know this expression.

We’re thoroughly disillusioned (Read: seething mad! but we have to maintain our dignity), just not enough to throw in the towel. What keep us going are the e-mails and messages we receive from JHJ fans from Canada, U.S.A., England, Austria, Germany, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia…….and counting. We may be just a new blog on a Korean actor, but we take the high road. We create most of our material, instead of just recycling. Our articles are original, not translations from the Korean fan clubs. We write from the heart; we don’t just churn out mediocre stuff. We don’t allow anybody to post anything. We exercise editorial control and we maintain high standards. We welcome contributions, but we have a strict screening process — we accept only the best. You don’t have to be able to write flawless English (we can fix that), but your heart has to be in the right place. We only issue one or two posts a day (except when there is breaking news); we believe in quality, not quantity. We operate by professional journalistic standards: we double-check (even triple-check) our sources before we put out any news. Some websites are copying our themes and topics (without any acknowledgement.) Since “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, we must be doing something right.

We are on good terms with the various fan clubs (actually we don’t know that many; we don’t socialize.) We don’t get involved in fan club politics. All of the JHJ fans we’ve met are really nice people, all working tirelessly on his behalf. If they cannot get along (turf war? personality conflict?) it’s none of our business. We don’t ally ourselves with anybody; we are free agents. We just do our own thing. We work independently; we are beholden to no one (except JHJ.)

JHJ has given us so much joy in our otherwise boring lives that we just want to share the joy, to spread his dream in the sky (as he puts it in his song.) At the end of “A Frozen Flower” (Did you read my review on May 14?) when they are both mortally wounded, the King asks Hong Lim: “Tell me: Have you ever loved me? if only for one day, one moment?” I ask you now: “Did you miss us? (yesterday when we’re off), if only for one instant?”

* We received a reply from the Official JHJ Fan Club on May 18, confirming photos and such may not be posted anywhere else.

P.S. New JHJ photos and a video were posted on the Official JHJ Fan Club website on May 18, and another 3 videos on May 19 and the last video on May 20. Are we sharing this time? Nah! Once bitten, twice shy.

Jo Hyun-Jae was the lead male model in the Andre Kim Fashion Extravaganza which was held in Wuxi, China on July 12, 2007. His female partner was Park Sol Mi (“Winter Sonata”, “All In”.) We don’t know what you think of Andre Kim’s garments, but after watching his shows before and after this one, we can confirm that the only model who can wear his clothes is our JHJ.

(Credit: names on photos. Thanks!)

The first time I saw “Joy of love” (2004), I was awe-struck! This internet short film is so sophisticated, so polished, so slick (in the best sense) that I could not believe it is the work of a relatively young Korean director E J-Yong (of “Untold Scandal” fame.) I’ve since watched it many times, and every time I marvel at what a flawless little gem it is!

It starts traditionally enough in a darkened cinema, where the male and female protagonists “meet” without contact. They both happen to be watching a Spanish movie, separately. If you pay attention to the Spanish dialogue, you’ll see it is about the break-up of a relationship. The woman is leaving the man; she says she doesn’t love him and she is now very happy with another man. The man’s parting words to her are: “You’re making a mistake!”

Scene 2 finds the man accessing some kind of online dating service. Everything is very high-tech. He types in MEMBER and the computer does a biometric verification of his iris (which is unique in every individual) and his ID is displayed on the computer — TRAVIS 1984 (year of birth?). He then makes his selection –PREVIOUS SELECTION (so they’ve met before), and chooses the meeting time and place — 2010.10.15 9 p.m. Cafe #5. Suddenly you realize this is set in the future! Viola! He then downloads an 8-pronged gadget that he sticks to the nape of his neck. The computer announces he has three more times left (out of ten), so he’s a regular customer.

Scene 3 shows the man arriving at the cafe. He is now dressed in a black suit and white shirt (no tie.) He sits at the bar to wait for his date. He touches NOTHING in front of him and a MENU appears in the air. He selects his coffee which also seems to appear out of the blue. He looks at his watch which is invisible until he touches his wrist — it shows 9:01 p.m. A woman in a black pant suit appears and almost walks past the man when the gadgets on the respective napes of their necks “recognize” one another. The man and the woman greet each other like lovers. She drinks his coffee without asking and tells him she thinks of him a lot. Then they leave to go to dinner and she puts her arm in his in the most familiar manner.

A few shots of night scenes follow and in scene 4 they are in bed (presumably they spend the night together in a hotel room.) The man is just waking up from a nightmare. He presses a button and the scene at the window changes from darkness to light. The woman wakes and yawns, and the man tells her he dreams last night that she’s leaving him. The woman laughs and says: “That’s why you have to be good to me while I’m around. It starts with “I love you”, but one “Goodbye” and it’s over.” And then: “Know what I like best? Spending a Sunday afternoon like this — lazing in bed with my lover.” Then they embrace and kiss — just like any lovers.

Scene 5 is again set at the cafe. They are talking about love and death. The man says he would like to die in his lover’s arms, to which the woman replies it’s not fair to die and leave your lover behind. But how to die at the same time? The woman says the best thing is to die on the same day in their 60s. The man says he wants to meet the woman who would die with him and the woman pretends to be offended. Just the usual lovers’ banter. Suddenly the gadgets at the nape of their necks flash red. The expression on their faces changes radically, suddenly becoming cold and uncaring. They don’t even look at each other. They are like two complete strangers. The man just gets up and leaves (without a goodbye) and the woman doesn’t care at all. The last lingering shot of the woman’s face depicts utter boredom and indifference.

That’s the end as far as the story is concerned. This short film closes with a return to the online dating service whose logo is a red heart flanked by a triangle on the left and a square on the right, with the words:

The service for those who have suffered the pain of love

Experience only the joy of love

Would you like to enter?

Then the very beautiful music comes on and the credits start rolling. The actors are on stage barely 9 minutes (superb editing!) and the whole short film is 11:10 minutes, including the music and credits at the end.

My reaction after watching “Joy of love”:

1. Gosh! What a cleverly devised and deftly executed little film!

2. Wow! JHJ is so breathtakingly handsome (with or without clothes)! He is “prettier” than the actress Lee So Yun.

3. He has such fine skin — the face, the neck, the upper body.

4. What an ironic statement on human relationship!

5. Is this the “brave new world” of the future?

The title is of course ironic. The “joy” is unreal — bought and manufactured, a temporary respite from the pain of life. “Love” is non-existent. The relationship between the man and the woman is physical, sexual, and temporary. Is this what the future holds for men and women? For those who have been hurt in love, the solution is NOT to enter into a serious relationship again. Instead there is no harm in make-believe. You get a night and a day of erotic ecstasy. If you’re satisfied, you can try it again (with the same partner) next time. If you’re not satisfied, you can always pick a different type. It’s all just a commercial transaction. And then I’m suddenly seized with a horrible thought — what’s the difference between this and a call girl service?

If this is a conventional dating service (as in our world today), the man and the woman might find they have some things in common. For one thing, they both like French films. For another, they have similar tastes in clothes — both dressed in black suits.

The most disturbing thing in this little film is the abrupt end to the relationship. Two people engaged in such an intimate conversation suddenly breaks off and behave as if the other is transparent. They become cold and stiff and indifferent — the man just leaves and the woman doesn’t even cast him a glance. Everything that happens the night before means nothing — just a pastime. Where is the love? Where is the joy?

Jo Hyun-Jae was barely 24 when this internet short film was made. He plays Travis to perfection here. Every move, every word, every look speaks volumes. I’ve seen a behind-the-scenes short film on the making of “Joy of love”, and I’m very impressed by the meticulous way they rehearse for each and every scene (though only a couple of minutes in the finished format.)

I love “Joy of love” (if only because it shows a half-naked JHJ! Just kidding!) I enjoy watching it, and it makes me think afterwards. How many Korean dramas, and, for that matter, any movie in any language, can do that?

(Credit: Video with English subtitles – Translation: PC; Timing/QC/Editor: Lorac; Timing/Encoder: Seirin.  Thanks!)

(From Korean magazine DVD MAGAZINE Vol.3, April 2009 — edited for length and sequence.)

Remember that first love? Let us recall the young Jo Hyun-Jae, so gentle and sweet, so shy and pure. His face looks absolutely unsullied by this world. It does not seem he has had a rebellious phase; he is always so amiable.

I first met him in the summer of 2000. The silent and deep look in his eyes made you feel you’re being absorbed into them. He was among the cast of the 1999 SBS TV series KAIST which depicts friendship and love among young people. I remember being shocked when I realized this was his first acting role in a TV series. His appearance is more attractive than the lead actor, and his performance is deeply touching.

In his first ever appearance in KAIST, in the story “145 km. Love” he plays a university student in the biology department who is carrying on a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend who lives 145 km. away. The setting for KAIST* is a university in Dae Jeon. His girlfriend is in Seoul, and for love he has to commute between Dae Jeon and Seoul on a motorcycle — I feel sorry for him. When I saw the very charming and always smiling Jo Hyun-Jae playing his role of the young man who is caught between his studies and love, I was most impressed and deeply attracted, and so was the general audience.

Since his debut in KAIST, Jo Hyun-Jae has participated in the weekend series “Father and Son” (SBS 2001) and the situation comedy “That’s Good” (SBS 2001) which witnessed an improvement in his acting skills. And since his vivid portrayal of the Crown Prince in the 2002 SBS drama “Great Ambition” (Dae Mang), his pure and dazzling appearance, his serene and deep eyes, and his unique baritone voice have prepared him for his brilliant collaboration with Soo Ae and Ji Jun Hee in the 2003 MBC drama “Love Letter”.

As Andrea in “Love Letter”, Jo Hyun-Jae plays the novice priest torn between his love for God and his love for a woman. This touching love story affects even the actor himself. No wonder the audience all cry with him. The famous setting for the drama, the very elegant Junglin-gong Yakhyun Catholic Church, has become even better known because of “Love Letter”.

Following the very moving story of Andrea, Jo Hyun-Jae portrays the agonizing experience of Young Woo in SBS’ “First Love” (2003) who has to accept that the girl he loves is in love with someone else. His heartache makes our hearts ache too.

And then in 2004 Jo Hyun-Jae portrays a songwriter in the MBC/Fuji TV Korean-Japanese joint production “Star’s Echo”, a pastry chef in SBS’ “Sunshine”, a special forces agent in KBS’ “Forbidden Love”; in 2005 an heir to a commercial empire in SBS’ “Only You” and the King of Baekjae in “Seo Dong Yo”, also by SBS; in 2008 an investment manager in KBS’ “3 Dads/1 Mom”; and as a young scholar in the movie “Untold Scandal”(2003) and Lieutenant Yoo in his latest movie “G.P.506″ (2008) — over the years the very versatile Jo Hyun-Jae has been playing a variety of roles.

Jo Hyun-Jae has proved he is a many-sided actor, and through his various works, now expressing tender love, now manifesting macho toughness, he has established his popularity in these eight years. As a result, he has won a number of prestigious awards:
2003 SBS Best New Actor
2005 SBS Best Loved Actor (voted by under 20s)
2006 42nd Baeksang Arts Award- Most Popular Actor
2007 Andre Kim Best Star

(TO BE CONTINIED)

* Editor’s note: KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is a research university located in Daedeok Science Town, Daejeon, in South Korea. KAIST was established in 1971 as the nation’s leading science and technology institution and is considered the MIT of South Korea.

This is one of several messages left on CAFE and EVER after Jo Hyun-Jae’s birthday on 5/9/09 by those fans who were lucky enough to go to his camp to celebrate his birthday with him. This is by a CAFE fan (the original is very long, so we have abridged it but retained the essence.)

This Korean fan took two days off to go to Seoul and stayed with a friend. The first part of the message detailed how they made seaweed soup for Hyun-Jae. (It is a Korean tradition to have seaweed soup on one’s birthday. See our earlier post “Birthday presents from JHJ fans”.) Let her tell the rest in her own words:

Because we were going to a military base, we could not use GPS (global positioning system). We brought a lot of food for Hyun-Jae and his camp-mates. On the road to Pocheon (Editor: where JHJ’s camp is located), we kept thinking: “Wherever Hyun-Jae is, that’s like home to us.”

We wondered what Hyun-Jae looked like now: Is he healthy? Is he tanned? But when we finally saw him face to face, he looked just like before — his skin was as fine as ever. He looked very fit and healthy; life in the army obviously suited him.

Hyun-Jae was very happy to see all the food spread out before him. “I don’t know where to begin eating,” he said, obviously very pleased. We asked if he had seaweed soup yet and he said No. (If he had not been in the army, his mother would have made it for him.)

These are Hyun-Jae’s own words: “Many, many thanks! I really appreciate what you send me every month — all the supplies of daily necessities and snacks. Life in the army makes me very strong and healthy.” (He was very sincere when he said this, as I’m sure you can imagine.)

I asked if he had put on some weight, and he replied: “Strangely enough, I still weigh the same.”

I looked at the name tag on his right breast, and I wish you could imagine how smart our Private First Class Jo Hyun-Jae of the Korean army looked.

His management company promised to send us photos taken on his birthday. Everybody is waiting for Jo Hyun-Jae’s latest photos — very, very handsome! His fans cherish his birthday more than their own.

Thank you very much, all Jo Hyun-Jae fans!
Thank you too, Japanese and overseas fans!

EDITOR: Since you can’t see his “very, very handsome” latest photos (we had to remove the post), we can only give you this narration/description. Use your imagination, as the writer keeps saying. But “a picture is worth a thousand words” (Sigh!) We can assure you, however, that Jo Hyun-Jae really looks very healthy and bright in his army uniform. He “seems” to have gained a little weight (his cheeks are fuller), probably a result of his quitting smoking in early 2009. He looks every inch the soldier but also the same JHJ who said farewell to his fans on 8/5/08.

(Thanks for the translation into Chinese, bpkwon of ING)