Jo Hyun Jae

The Japanese magazine “Korean TV” in its March 2010 issue has an item on Jo Hyun-Jae’s military life.   It is about JHJ as a dog soldier — where he is serving in the Korean Army’s 2nd Battalion Military Supplies Support Command, how he trains with his dog, how he patrols the ammunition depot with it every night at 4 a.m. for 5 km. (even in winter), how he underwent Severe Winter Training in January (when this photo was taken), and how he completed his mission satisfactorily. 

(Have we mastered Japanese overnight?  Nah!  But we can read the Chinese characters in the Japanese language, plus a little imagination and our knowledge of all things JHJ, so we guess our translation is not far off.)

The magazine cover features Lee Byung-Hyun and the focus is on “Iris”.  But to be mentioned in the same breath as Lee Byung-Hyun is not bad at all, considering JHJ admires LBH as an actor.

And here are the latest countdown creations from JHJ fans in Japan:

(Credit: Ranta, Ahiru, and Hart of CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!)

When I was doing the series on Jo Hyun-Jae’s 2008 Korea Fan Meeting, I wanted to use the above but didn’t know how to post something that flips.  Our Technical Adviser (computer whiz kid!) is now back from vacation and voila! problem solved!  This is too good to pass up, so here it is.  Enjoy!

(Credit: www.johyunjaethailand.com and all names that appear on photos used.  Thanks!)

The Japanese magazine* on the historical dramas of Director Lee Byung-Hoon features each and every one of the lead characters in “Seo Dong Yo”.  The very first is of course our Jo Hyun-Jae as Seo Dong.  Others include Lee Bo-Young as Princess Sunhwa, Ryu-Jin as Giroo, Lee Chang-Hoon as Mokrasu, Heo Young-Ran as Princess Woo Young, and Kim Young-Ho as Buyeo-Seon.  (*Please see our 2010.03.05 post “‘Seo Dong Yo’ in historical drama magazine” and 2010.03.18 post “Director Lee talks about JHJ” under Category “JHJ magazine”.)

[Editor: All quotations are JHJ's except otherwise stated.]

Seo Dong – Jang (later King Mu)

“To let all citizens live in bliss — isn’t that enough?”

The lead actor of the 2003 MBC drama “Love Letter”, Jo Hyun-Jae, is elevated to a star at the centre of attention.  JHJ possesses a soulful face and a pensive expression, a deep resonant voice, and has such an aura that he has been called “Korea’s aristocrat.”

JHJ’s name first came to public attention in the 2002 SBS drama “Great Ambition” (DaeMang) in which he plays the role of the Crown Prince who has to go through trials and tribulations before he could ascend the throne.  “Who is that charming actor who plays the prince?” became the hot topic among fans of TV drama.  Director Lee Byung-Hoon also began to take notice of him at this time:

“JHJ can play the role of the prince, not only because he possesses the aura, but also because he himself has been through a lot in his own life.  This is the quality that someone who becomes king must possess.  So far he has been in 5 TV dramas; with each role he has shown how dynamic he can be in tackling a character.  So, with “Seo Dong Yo” JHJ will definitely become a shining star!” 

As for JHJ himself, he said: “I feel honoured to take part in a production of the #1 director in Korea.  Very few actors have the chance to play a prince twice in a row; I feel doubly honoured.”  And: “Everybody around me expects great things of me.  I feel the stress.  If I fall short, I will try harder.  I think this is part of growing up.” 

But filming “Seo Dong Yo” is certainly not a piece of cake.  The hardest parts are lack of sleep and the script.  Every day at 3 p.m. the script arrives and rehearsal takes place three hours later.  Filming starts at 9 p.m. and continues overnight till noon of the next day.  As the male lead, JHJ has to appear in most scenes and his lines are also more and much longer than other actors’.  It is rumoured that memorizing his lines has given him some white hair.

There are more difficulties in other areas.  The fight scenes require a lot of energy over many hours – this is one of the hardest parts of filming.

“During filming life is like prison life.  Everybody must listen to filming orders.  Everybody jokes this is not ‘Seo Dong Yo’ but ‘Slave Labour Yo’”.

Whenever he felt he could not take it anymore, JHJ would think: “If it had been Jang, he would be able to do this,” so he would grit his teeth and carry on.  On the set every time he thought about Jang’s endurance and perseverance, JHJ would continue to work hard.

“Jang is a remarkable person: he could let every citizen live in peace and prosperity – this is no mean feat.  Jang lives in a world of pure idealism.  What will he do if he really becomes king?  This is not an easy thing; researching science and technology and developing culture and art are not simple.”  When he says these things, JHJ sounds very much like Jang himself.

JHJ also has had his differences with the director.  The director’s dictate was: “Jang must beat his chest to show his fury.”  At first he could not grasp this.  He thought about how Jang would behave in the funeral and then went to discuss with the director.  He asked the director to think in terms of the whole drama, and finally the director changed his mind and followed JHJ’s suggestions.

“I was utterly exhausted during the post-production party of ‘Seo Dong Yo’, so much so that I even seriously contemplated not attending.”

His cooperation with Director Lee in “Seo Dong Yo” taught JHJ a lot and he gained invaluable experience.  Even though filming was very tough, he had to memorize many long lines, and he was seriously sleep-deprived, finally he was able to satisfactorily complete his task.  Since then he has become full of confidence about tackling whatever role that comes after.  And the fact that he ”hopes to become a sincere and honest person with a heart full of love like Jang ” also shows JHJ has indeed grown up.

After “Seo Dong Yo” JHJ worked in “G.P.506″ and the 2008 KBS drama “3 Dads 1 Mom” before entering the army in August 2008.  At the fan meetings just before his enlistment, he sang the song ”See you again after today” for his fans in a very moving atmosphere.  “The most meaningful thing before my enlistment is to be with you, my fans.  Thank you so much!   Military life will not be easy, but I will work hard.  I will never forget you.  Thank you all!”  That was how he expressed his gratitude to his fans inside and outside Korea.

Looking forward to after June 2010 — to a more mature and fresher and brighter JHJ!

(Credit: English translation based on Chinese translation in johyunjae.hk. Photos from everjohyunjae.co.kr and cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove. Thanks!)

Today is the 3rd anniversary of johyunjaeHONGKONG.  Congratulations and all best wishes!

And here is our present:

and the cake:

I wish I could change their faces into JHJ’s, but I don’t know how.

Have a wonderful day!  Drink one to JHJ for me!

B & W of course refers to the video below since the photo above is in glorious colours.  Jo Hyun-Jae looks equally good in colour or black-and-white.

(Credit: kk of johyunjae.hk. Thanks!)

MMV stands for ”mother-of-all-MVs”  (Ha!Ha!)  At 16.55 minutes long, this very comprehensive “Seo Dong Yo” video is perhaps several MVs in one, more than 1/4 of one episode, set to some of the best-loved songs on the OST.  In any case, today is Saturday, so you can enjoy it at leisure.  If you’ve seen ”Seo Dong Yo” before, bet you’ll want to watch it again.  If you haven’t , what kind of JHJ fan are you?  And what are you waiting for?

(Credit: We thank the creator of this MV; pandora TV; johyunjae.hk.)

It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything on “Sunshine”.  This MV features JHJ and the kid sister, and together they radiate a lot of sunshine and fun!  That child actress is really precocious, and her character has the good sense to say she’d marry JHJ, or rather his character Jung Eun-Sup, when she grows up, unlike her big sister who breaks his heart.

And this is our favourite song from the OST of “Sunshine”.

Goodbye

Promise me, a fool like me
Your eyes, the most beautiful eyes in the world
Please don’t ever cry again
You must be happy, wherever you are
You must be happy.

Please forget me who cannot be by your side
And carry on with your life
Except for memories to cherish
I have nothing at all
I cannot forsake anything.

Even if you are gone
I will carry on cherishing you
The last thing I can do
Is to gaze at the shadow of your back in my loneliness
Goodbye, my love, goodbye.

I will try to forget
Even if I keep crying till tears blur my vision
Even if thinking about you makes me suffocate
I will try to endure
I will not change.

I can no longer be by your side
Now I can think about you freely
The only thing I can do now
Is to gaze at the shadow of your back in my loneliness
Goodbye, my love, goodbye.

The only thing I can say to you now
Is to offer a smile before our parting
And then let you go
You must be blessed
You must be blessed.

(English translation of lyrics by wulijohyunjae.)

(Credit: First video by http://cafe.daum.net/ilhjzz.  Second video and Chinese subtitles by Coffee of johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

CarpeDiemJAPAN (with their new header above) has just celebrated their 2nd anniversary.  Congratulations and all best wishes!  Many thanks for all the wonderful things they have done for Jo Hyun-Jae!  Their dedication and zeal are an inspiration to all.

Here are some of the congratulatory messages in graphics that they have received.

(Credit: We thank CarpeDiemJAPAN and all the creators of the above.)

We’ve now got the magazine and discovered to our delight that there are many more pages on “Seo Dong Yo” (22 pages in all!)  We’re sharing them with you here, but please don’t ask us what Director Lee Byung-Hoon said about Jo Hyun-Jae.  (Your Japanese is as good as ours!  But we promise to scour the web for a translation that we can translate into English.)  Meanwhile, enjoy the visual!

We have already provided this information on our March 5 post “‘Seo Dong Yo’ in historical drama magazine” under Category “JHJ magazine”, but here it is again:

FYI, the magazine is now available at http://www.amazon.co.jp – type in its Japanese title: 韓国時代劇のすべて-イ・ビョンフン監督、全自作を語る – (ムック) – and proceed as directed. Website has English version.

(Credit: http://cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

As the countdown begins, Jo Hyun-Jae fans are exercising their ingenuity and imagination.  Below are the creations of ahiru of Japan.  Beautiful, aren’t they?

95 was actually yesterday.  Today is 94.  Tomorrow will be 93…..time has never gone so fast!

(Credit: http://hyunjaelove.jp; http://cafe.daum.net/nowguswo; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)