Jo Hyun Jae

You’ve all seen the above photo in our August 20 post “‘Defense Daily’ interview”.  Ever wondered what Jo Hyun-Jae is eating?  And what it’s like before he sits down to dinner (and after)?  Here goes………………(and don’t forget to bring your own “plate”!)

And wash your “plate” before you leave!

That’s a glimpse into army life for you.  I’m sure the Korean army meals are designed by dietitians.  They have to make sure their soldiers are well fed so they will stay in good shape.  And the boys look like they are enjoying their food.  At least our JHJ is — he has almost cleaned out his plate.  But if I have to eat something like this for two years, I’m sure I can be as trim as our JHJ!

Oh! it’s day time!  So this is lunch after all.  Maybe there will be steak for dinner?

(Photos courtesy of http://armynuri.tistory.com.  And thanks to johyunjae.hk too.)

prissymom is a lucky lady — here’s JHJ lighting her birthday cake!  And below is an account of her birthday in her own words.

August 20 was my birthday, and as a gift to me my husband took a leave from work to spend the whole day with me.  We left the house early (that’s why I didn’t get the chance to check out wuliJHJ right away), and spent the whole day doing things we love to do — we took a 2-hour drive to our old university which is nestled at the foot of Mt. Makiling; went trekking around the base of Mt. Makiling (couldn’t go up the mountain anymore because our legs can no longer handle the climb, hehehe!); took pictures (my husband is an amateur photographer); spent time in a hot spring and spa where we also had a leisurely lunch (this university town is surrounded by many hot springs; even water that comes out of the faucet/shower is hot, hot, hot, so hot you can even boil an egg); met up with our daughter late in the afternoon (our daughter is currently a 3rd year high school student in the same university where my husband and I spent our college years); took another 2-hour drive to Tagaytay Ridge (this is just 10 minutes away from our home and a favorite destination of Manila residents due to the clean, cool air and fantastic view of Taal Volcano (an active volcano that is surrounded by a lake); attended mass (it is customary for us Filipino Roman Catholics to hear mass on our birthday to thank the good Lord for all the blessings He gave us the previous year and to ask for guidance and more blessings for the coming year) at the Pink Sisters Convent (so-called because the novices in this convent wear a pink habit); then had an early dinner in our favorite Italian restaurant aptly named Buon Giorno (Italian for “good day”) located along the ridge.

We got home around 9 p.m. and while preparing for bed I realized that I have not checked wuliJHJ yet, but as I was so tired already I decided to do it the next day.  I was quite happy at the way the day turned out; my birthday celebration may be simple (by other people’s standards) but I preferred it that way.  On top of that I received a lot of calls and text messages throughout the day from friends and relatives (from as far as Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Singapore) greeting me on my day and that made me so happy.  I thought my special day was already over, so I went to bed with a happy heart but oddly enough, when I was already lying down I found that I could not sleep.  So I got up again, switched on my laptop, and received my last gift for the day – the video and photos of Hyun Jae’s “Defense Daily” interview posted in wuliJHJ!!!

Right there and then, I wanted to send a lengthy email to wuliJHJ, but I was just so tired that all I managed was a short comment, but I promised myself that I will write a short piece about it as soon as I can.  And here it is…..

On our Hyun Jae’s general appearance – he looks so lean but not in a sickly kind of way; in fact he looks so fit and so healthy!  He looks a bit tanned also.  I am sure he gets exposed to the sun a lot while carrying out his normal duties as a dog soldier, but his skin still looks so fine and clean despite that.  And my gosh! can anyone else look as gorgeous and sexy as our Hyun Jae in his army fatigues?  In the still photos where he is training his dog, he looks more like a model than an ordinary dog soldier going about his duties. Even in a still photo, his gracefulness cannot be masked!! 

In that segment in the video where he is shown training his dog, his body movements are so graceful, yet very manly and confident.  And he is so attuned to his dog’s movements, or should I say the dog is so attuned to our HJ – it was such a joy watching HJ and his dog moving in perfect unison.  I swear, he is the sexiest dog trainer in the whole wide world.  And in that segment where he is brushing his dog’s coat, my gosh! for the first time in my life I am jealous of a dog!!!!  I wanted to be that dog so badly!!!

After savoring the video and the still photos for hours on end (I will go back to looking at his photos as soon as I finish this piece), I decided to concentrate on the answers he gave to the questions thrown at him.  He is as humble as ever, never forgetting to thank us, his fans, for our continued support, but the answer I liked the most is the one he gave to the question on why he didn’t enlist as an entertainment soldier.  He said that he and his parents felt that being on active duty is a better option than becoming an entertainment soldier.  It is heartwarming to learn that he still listens to his parents’ advise.  To most westerners, it would seem weird that a man his age would still take into consideration his parents’ advice in his decision-making process, but for us Asians, this is a very natural thing to do.  And I agree with their decision for him to become an ordinary soldier.  If he enlisted as an entertainment soldier, he will be exposed to basically the same things and same people that he encountered as an actor; but as an ordinary soldier he can learn new things, explore a different world, meet new friends and gain new experience that may help him to become a better person and actor. 

And he seems to have made the right decision, if his two promotions (so far) are any indication.  And to think that before his military service there were some malicious speculations about his military enlistment (www.dramabeans.com/2008/04/jo-hyun-jae- bracing-self-for-public-outcry based on a report from News.Mk.co.kr and the Daily Surprise).  When I read that blog entry I was bothered that such malicious rumors are being reported as legitimate news and not as mere speculations by people who are intent on putting certain celebrities in a bad light.  If Hyun Jae’s camp issued an explanation to this controversy, it was never posted in that blog.  But I was never interested in an explanation anyway, because I never doubted, not even for a second, our Hyun Jae’s integrity.  I believe him to be a man of honor – a man who will never shirk his duty to his country.  I never sought an explanation to the controversy because I know that in his own good time, our Hyun Jae will prove those people wrong.  He is a man of few words, we all know that, so I know he will not waste words explaining himself.  He will just do what needs to be done, and let his actions speak for himself.   And his actions did speak for him, so well in fact, as indicated by his two promotions!!!

(Credit: Photo courtesy of http://jo-hyunjae.com.  Thanks!)

2007 Andre Kim Best Star Award

Andre Kim’s fashions may not be for everyone.  If you’ve seen one year’s, you’ve seen them all.  Whatever you think of his creations, there is no doubt that the “Best Star” is Jo Hyun-Jae.  He is the only one who can wear Andre Kim’s clothes and look regal and, well, not ridiculous.

Want more?  Here’s more!

(Credit for videos: names on videos.  Thanks!)

Ever since the “Defense Daily” interview (video and photos) of Jo Hyun-Jae was released on August 20, 2009, in half a day alone (up to August 21, 2:10 a.m.), 58,180 people have accessed DAUM.  And this is only one such website in Korea.

Please see chart below.  According to our in-house Korean expert, LEFT top is percentage according to AGE GROUP.   44.8% in their 20s, 32.3% in their 30s — surprise! surprise!  JHJ’s fans are mostly young people!

LEFT bottom is percentage according to GENDER (pink for women 46%, blue for men 54%.)  Again surprise! surprise!  more men than women checked in on that site for JHJ news.

RIGHT is distribution according to AREA, with 32.7% in Seoul.

Info credit- mandalaywith@ CARPEDIEM ( http://cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove.  Thanks! )

These photos are taken from the video which is why their quality is not as good as the ones in yesterday’s post.  Still, more is better.

(Credit: http://armynuri.tistory.com/; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

After reading prissymom’s article, I can’t believe anyone could have written such nasty words about Jo Hyun-Jae in “3 Dads &1 Mom”.  Prissymom has defended JHJ with her words.  Now let’s review JHJ’s performance and find the truth with your own eyes.

(MV created by hiro of everyjohyunjae.co.kr.  Thanks!)

(From http://armynuri.tistory.com/.  Photos courtesy of johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

TRANSLATION OF TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO (edited):

Q.  What are your duties now?

A.  I am an army dog soldier in the 2nd battalion, responsible for the health, education, and training of my dog, as well as to keep it in the best condition and to patrol the ammunition depot with it at night.

Q.  Is there a special reason why you did not enlist as an entertainment soldier?

A.  Both my parents and I thought it would be better for me to be on active duty.  I have been busy working and concentrating on my career.  Being a regular soldier will give me an opportunity and time for reflection.   When I look back on my career, I could take pride in having served the Republic of Korea as an ordinary soldier.

Q.  To your fellow artists who have yet to join the military, what do you want to say to them as a “senior”?

A.  I’d like to say to those who have not completed their military service: “Enlist early!”  There is nothing to fear.  There is no problem even for those who come to military life late.

Q.  After you have completed your military service, what would you like to do?

A.  Make great films, of course.  I would like to return to being a professional actor.

Q.  How about a few words to your fans?

A.  I’m doing well in the military.  I’ll repay your loyalty with “great work” after my discharge.  Thank you so much for all your love and letters.  Stay healthy and be happy always.

Q.  What difficulties have you encountered in your military duties with a dog?

A.  We have day and night duty.  The hardest part is the graveyard shift in winter when we have to go out and start patrolling at 4 a.m., a distance of about 5 km. all round the camp.

 (Editor’s note: JHJ was still Private First Class when this interview with “Defense Daily” took place in July.  He was promoted to Corporal on Aug.1, 2009.)

2006  42nd Baeksang Arts Award (Most Popular Actor – for “Seo Dong Yo”)

The Baeksang Arts Awards of the Korean entertainment industry is equivalent to Hollywood’s Oscars.  These prestigious awards were established in 1965 and are presented in March each year.  Their objectives are to develop popular Korean culture and arts and are meant as a recognition for practitioners in the arts.  They are awarded to actors and production personnel whose works are most distinguished in the year from March 1 to end of February of the following year.  The Baeksang Arts Awards are the only general arts awards with multiple categories in Korea.

Transcript from video:

MC: Jo Hyun-Jae!  For his performance as Baekjae’s King Mu in the TV drama “Seo Dong Yo” — through his undying and unmitigated love for Princess Shinhwa, he successfully portrays the perfect love story of SDY.

JHJ: Thank you so much!  I feel very honoured to receive this meaningful and important  award.  To my fans who have been supporting me wholeheartedly and steadfastly, I offer my deepest gratitude.  And I cannot forget everyone who has helped me and cared about me.  I say to you all – Many thanks!  Thank you, everyone!

JHJ’s manager said: “Hyun-Jae feels that without his fans he would not have been able to win this award.  It is all because of you.  That’s why he is so happy.”  And everjohyunjaeKorea’s Master replied: “This is not our doing.  It is all the result of Hyun-Jae’s own hard work.  So please tell him to savour his own triumph.  Congratulations, Hyun-Jae!”.

Can you see the necklace JHJ is wearing under his fancy shirt?  According to everjohyunjaeKorea’s “sunwoo”, that is designed by everjohyunjaeJapan’s “kikue” in December 2005 and hand-delivered to JHJ by “sunwoo” in January 2006.   That JHJ wears this necklace on such an important occasion shows how much he appreciates his fans’ gifts.

(Credit: doran of johyunjae.co.kr.  Translated from the Chinese translation in johyunjae.cn (ING).  Thanks!)

(Credit for photo: carpediemJapan’s Param.   Thanks!)

prissymom continues and concludes:

I have made a list of my favorite scenes with our JHJ in it in “3 Dads 1 Mom” —  these are the scenes that I keep going back to again and again:

1.Episode 3 – the WONDERFUL scene.  This is when Soo-Hyun (SH) goes to the art gallery owned by Park Seo Yeon (daughter of his rich client) to try to attract the attention of the rich girl and impress her with his knowledge about art.  He keeps exclaiming “WONDERFUL!” in such a serious manner with his right hand tucked under his chin and his left hand tucked under his right elbow, only to find out that the art piece that he is looking at is actually a pail containing cleaning tools left by a cleaning lady on the pedestal reserved for art pieces.  He looks so serious and so handsome but still so funny that I can’t stop myself from laughing out loud.  Until now I still find myself laughing whenever I remember that scene….WONDERFUL indeed!!!

2.  Episode 3 – pear eating scene.  This is before Ha-Seon (HS) is born and Na-Young (NY) loses consciousness while selling children’s books.  When NY recovers consciousness, she is transferred to a room.  While the other two dads are out, SH peels a pear for NY, but he peels it too thick.  So as not to waste the very expensive pear he eats the remaining flesh/meat off the peeling.  He does this again when it is the Shin Sung-Rok (SSR) character Kyung-Tae’s (KT) turn to be hospitalized due to a stab wound.  SH looks as if he is thoroughly enjoying himself eating the remaining pear off the peeling, and so self-assured that his stinginess is a positive trait in a person!!!

3. Episode 3 – first Lamaze class.  Our JHJ looks so funny in the pregnancy suit (big belly and big boobs!!!)

4. Episode 4 – HS’s birth.  When the doctor announces that HS has finally come out, all 3 dads are of course happy and amazed.  Shin Sung-Rok (SSR) shows his amazement by smiling dumbly.  Jae Hee (JH) expresses his amazement by smiling and dilating his eyes to the widest extent possible so that he looks more scary than funny. Then there is our JHJ: he doesn’t smile, he doesn’t dilate his eyes.  Still acting true to the SH character, he is still serious but you could see in his slightly agape mouth and in his eyes the amazement a man would feel at such a miraculous moment.  No exaggerated facial expressions but the sense of wonder is written all over his face and sparkling in his eyes.  I keep going back to his face during this scene because I really love his reaction here.  You have to be pretty quick to catch his face in this scene because his face is shown for just a few seconds.

5. Episode 5 – first scene between JHJ and his father.  I love the way this scene is handled: there is our JHJ washing his dad’s feet and shaving his face quietly, calmly, and patiently while his father is talking all the time.  Our JHJ doesn’t show too much emotion here but you could sense the many emotions that are boiling beneath the surface — love and pity for his father; frustration at not being able to do more for his father; maybe he also feels burdened at having to take care of a sick father, not having someone to share the burden with; maybe guilt for feeling burdened at all; his resignation to his fate of having to care for a sick father, maybe for the rest of his life (this can be seen when he handed his credit card to pay off his father’s current bills in the facility – his face long, his shoulders down, his movements slow); and then drinking alone in that bar, maybe to drown his sorrows.

6. Episode 7 – counting money scene.  The 3 dads are in a place with the people to whom NY’s dad owes money to pay off the debt; then everybody starts counting the bills.  The Jae Hee character Kwang-Hee (KH) hands a bundle of bills to SH to help in the counting and then SH, like the expert moneyman that he is, expertly fans the bills in his hand and starts to count, not one at a time but several bills at a time.  Our JHJ really looks like an expert at counting large amounts of bills in that scene, and he is so true to his character of taking money seriously.  I wonder how long it takes him to master the trick of fanning the bills in one hand?

7. Episode 9 – losing HS scene.  I love this scene so much because here we see JHJ being the quintessential dramatic actor that he is.  He is panic-stricken and so afraid that he has lost HS, as any adult would be at losing a child who is in his care (whether that child is his or not).  You sense the panic and the fear in the way he goes up and down the aisles; you sense the urgency in his voice which is loud enough to be heard by other shoppers but not too loud as to terrify people.  You can see in his face that he is about to lose control, and finally when he sees HS again, he totally loses control of his emotions for the first time in this drama.  When he is hugging HS close to him after finding her again, you sense the mingling of relief and remembered fear in that hug and in that silent cry.   He never ever exaggerates his facial expressions or his body movements and his voice is not too loud, but still you sense all the conflicting emotions that he is trying to convey. I love it when he lets go of his emotions in his dramatic scenes but never loses control of his acting.  He makes acting these dramatic scenes so effortless that they seem real and not contrived.

8. Episode 14 – campfire scene.  I just love JHJ’s rendition of “Now It’s Goodbye”.  I admit that this is my most favorite scene; I keep going back to it.  I cannot find the right words to express how I feel when I see and hear him sing this song in this episode.

9. Episode 15 – videotaping scene.  This is the scene where SH sneaks into KH’s room to get the videocam so he could record a new message for HS.  Earlier KH and KT ask him to record a message and he does.  But it is a short one and is delivered curtly, maybe because he doesn’t want his friends to see him cry.  And cry he does when he records his second message.  Again no exaggerated facial expressions, no loud cries, just his eyes tearing up, his voice raspy with emotion, and his lips quivering slightly but you could sense the overwhelming sadness he is feeling.  And when he clutches the videocamera to his chest, you just know that he is so overcome with emotion that he could no longer speak.

Do I feel that JHJ made the wrong decision to play the role of Soo-Hyun?  No, absolutely not!  I love seeing him in this lighthearted drama.  I also enjoy watching him during his male-bonding moments in the drama; he seems to be enjoying himself so immensely.  We are so used to seeing him act in serious/heavy dramas that to see him being part of comedy drama is refreshing and heartwarming.  I also have so much fun watching him doing funny stuff with such a straight face.   Would I want to see him in another romantic comedy?  Oh yes, absolutely!  But I hope it would be a meatier role than this one.  I have complete confidence in our Hyun Jae’s capabilities.

THE END

Oh by the way, wuliJHJ, in episodes 13-14 of this drama I noticed that there was something wrong with our JHJ’s right eye.  At first I thought he had a bad case of eyebags, it looked so bad that I asked myself why JHJ and the production people allowed JHJ to be filmed with such a huge eyebag, it distracted me so much.  Then as the episode progressed I realized that it was no ordinary eyebag, the area beneath his right eye was injured!!! Could it have been the result of the car accident he had while filming this drama? If yes, then it must have hurt so much, but I salute our JHJ for not stopping the filming to give his injury time to subside. And he is so unconcerned about his looks, another actor would have made such a fuss, raised such a ruckus and stopped filming until such time the injury has subsided, inconveniencing everyone just so he/she would look good on camera.   Anyway, whatever caused the injury I am glad that it didn’t leave a permanent damage to his handsome face or to his beautiful eyes.

JHJ was injured by Shin Sung-Rok during filming of 3D1M on the afternoon of May 9, 2008 (his birthday!).  SSR was acting drunk and splaying about wildly.  When he was hit, JHJ gave a loud shout, according to eye-witnesses at the scene.  Even though the injury was quite serious, he insisted on carrying on with the shooting.  First aid was administered on the spot , but he was not treated at a hospital until after midnight, and went on with the shooting the next day.  A make-up artist said the injury was so severe that no amount of make-up could disguise it as the wound was badly swollen.  JHJ was lucky not to be blinded!

Lastly, wuliJHJ, I would like to thank you for being my sounding board here (or should I write writing board?).  I am sorry the email is quite long, I have more than 12 months worth of negative vibes to purge after all (hahaha!!!).  I would like to thank you again for putting up a blog for English-speaking fans of our Hyun Jae.  You have given us a venue to air our views about the various issues concerning our Hyun Jae, a place to get updated info about him, a resource for new JHJ fans to gather information about him, and a place where issues about him may be clarified.  Keep up the good work and more power to you!!!!!

Well, prissymom!  We’ll take a bow. We thank you for your support of our blog and your contribution of this substantial article.  But we’d better stop before we sound like a mutual admiration society.

(Credit for photos: name on photos.  Thanks!)

JHJ joins Glosee Internet Search

On August 17, 2009, Jo Hyun-Jae’s management company Star n Hit announces that JHJ has joined Glosee Internet Search.  Glosee is a platform using the internet to search for news and information of your favourite artists.  The start page is linked to the artist’s websites.  You can see information easily and quickly.

For more information, refer to the linked address below.  Click to download it.  
http://www.jpcorsa.com/kor/download/down.php?code=KORSTAR021

(Translated from the Chinese version by Rei @ Carpediem; http://cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove)

When you have successfully downloaded the programme, you should see the following start page every time you access it. 

Words on left mean (top to bottom): CAFEKorea, EVER, and Official JHJ website.  Words on right (above OUTBACK) means: Advertisement – DON’T click.)

(Photo courtesy of johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)