Jo Hyun Jae

This is Volume 10 of the CAFE magazine that they have regularly published since Jo Hyun-Jae entered the army.  The pictures of the contents speak for themselves.  This is the magazine they sent to JHJ in their 19th supplies.  (Please see our April 19 post “CAFE’s gifts to JHJ”.)

(Credit: CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!)

We’ve  finally managed to secure the COMPLETE “Joy of Love” video with English subtitles (courtesy of Lorac).  It’s worth posting again because it’s among the best of JHJ.  Watch it to the very end — don’t miss the end music.

You have to wait till “3 Dads/1 Mom” to see JHJ look so dashing in a suit again!

Please see our other posts on “Joy of Love” under Category: JHJ short drama: “Joy of Love”.

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

P.S.  We would like to thank prissymom for this complete version of JOL (with English susbtitles.)  We trod on a few toes (without realizing it), but now all’s well that ends well.

Below is EVER’s message that is posted today (which we have translated from Korean.)

Preparing for Jo Hyun-Jae’s birthday

The gorgeous spring flowers blossom late and wilt early – what a pity this spring will be so short! 

Everybody wants to know about news of Jo Hyun-Jae?  Even though there is no news apart from his very conscientiously completing his military service, we feel we should be thankful that he is leading a healthy life.

Have you written down all those words that you’ve always wanted to say to Hyun-Jae?  If not, now is the time to remedy that.  Every day we are translating the numerous messages from overseas fans.  Even though it is very time-consuming, this will be a very meaningful and thoughtful birthday present.

Today we shall satisfy your curiosity by revealing the presents for Hyun-Jae.  First, presents for Hyun-Jae’s birthday and discharge……..in order to find the presents that are indispensable to Hyun-Jae, we have racked our brains.

Presents are: Notebook, i-pod touch + speaker, and cell phone.

Even though we did not discuss this in our chatroom like before, we made our decision based on feedbacks and opinions from various channels.  Most important is Hyun-Jae’s own needs.  As for the brand and model number, we shall inform you later. 

Even though there has been no donation after the new year, with the imminent arrival of Hyun-Jae’s birthday, we have received special donations simultaneouly from Korea and Japan, and also donations from overseas fans (apart from Japan.)

We have prepared very pretty cards, on which we will write the donors’ names to send to Hyun-Jae.  Even though it is not much, every cent comes from the heart.  So it will be a very special present.

(EVERjohyunjae has been following Hyun-Jae’s instructions, so we have not been sending presents to his fellow soldiers for some time, and this time we have also not prepared anything for them.)

One other thing — many fans are eager to know about the Korea fan meeting, especially those overseas fans who are coming to welcome Hyun-Jae out of the army.  But first, there is another thing more important than fan meeting — and that is Hyun-Jae’s first work after his discharge.  As soon as this has been finalized, we will immediately inform you.  Don’t you want to know?  Aren’t you curious?  In what role/capacity will Hyun-Jae meet his fans……ooh…..

To all the fans who have stood by Hyun-Jae in these two years — we wish to convey our sincerest gratitude and love.

Jo Hyun-Jae — support you forever!

E.V.E.R.J.O.H.Y.U.N.J.A.E

N.B.  Watch out for special news of Jo Hyun-Jae in May!

(Credit: Photo from http://www.johyunjaehouse.co.kr.  We’ve never seen this one before.  Have you?  JHJ looks like he’s going to a ball!)

We’ve taken a page, actually the cover, of a magazine and created our own headline.  Clever, isn’t it?

The following countdown photos are by Ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!   (You may not have seen the last two photos before.) 

(Credit: Countdown 60 designed by prissymom of wulijohyunjae.  Thanks!)

These are the 18th and 19th times (combined) of gifts (which they call “supplies”) that CarpeDiem (Korea and Japan) sent to Jo Hyun-Jae — for Valentine’s Day and his promotion to Sergeant.  This is a late report on their part.  The 20th one would be for his birthday on May 9.

You can see that they cater for his every need, and there are lots of goodies for his fellow soldiers too. 

19th supplies (Promotion Set) include:  Sergeant (4 stripes), so sausages (so imaginative!), snacks, chestnuts, chocolates, mask packs, 84 sets of the above (for JHJ’s mates), oranges and kiwi (Vitamins for spring), tissues, skincare products, ginseng, books (title of top one: “The 5 People You Meet in Heaven”), magazine “Screen” and CAFE magazine.

18th supplies (New Year and Valentine Set) include: Valentine chocolates, assorted snacks individually wrapped, 84 sets of New Year Festival Lucky Bags (for JHJ’s mates), special chocolate for JHJ, potato chips, fruits, tissues, ginseng, and “Screen” magazine.

(Credit: CarpeDiem, Korea and Japan.  Many thanks!)

Video (titled: “Those winter memories”) and “Love Letter” photos by KK of johyunjae.hk.  KK is our JHJ Fan of the Month — she is so talented and versatile, and she creates the best MVs, set to beautiful melodies.  Even though she lost everything because her computer crashed a while ago, it did not take her long to begin her creative process all over again.  We salute you, KK!

From the moment the dawn starts to gleam in gold
I know I’ll never be lonely again
Seeing your face break into a smile for me
With you the world is not the same anymore.

(From the song – but equally applicable to how JHJ fans feel about him.)

(Credit: KK of johyunjae.hk. Many thanks!)

Above video is by our Japanese friend Mizutamari who has made so many discoveries about the locations of Jo Hyun-Jae’s dramas.

Recognize these places?

(Credit: Mizutamari of http://club.brokore.com/sodonyo; photos by quilt of EVERjohyunjaeJAPAN; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

Above MV shows clips of Jo Hyun-Jae accepting the Andre Kim 2007 Best Star Award, along with Kim Hee-Sun. Please also see video of event in our 2009.8.22 post “JHJ award-winning moments (4)” under Category: JHJ awards.

NOTE: MV is originally a flash – our resident computer genius turned it into this format.  When I was editing this post (before the change), I had to listen to the accompanying song continuously – oh, at least 30 times!  Nearly drove me nuts!  Who’s the uptown girl?  And is JHJ the downtown boy?

(Credit: Video by Param of CarpeDiemJAPAN; name on photos. Thanks!)

This is from that Japanese magazine on Korean historical drama that we featured in our 2010.3.5 post “SDY in historical drama magazine”, 2010.3.18 post “Director Lee talks about JHJ”, and 2010.3.22 post “JHJ in historical drama magazine” under Category: JHJ magazine.

In the dramas that I have directed, the male lead is invariably played by an actor over 30 years of age — Ji Jin-Hee in “Jewel in the palace”(Dae Jang Geum), Jun Kwang-Ryul in “The legendary doctor Huh Joon”, Lee Jae-Ryong in “Sando”, Lee Seo-Jin in “Yi San” (Lee San, Wind of the palace.)  There is only one exception, and that is Jo Hyun-Jae in “Seo Dong Yo”.

Jo Hyun-Jae possesses the aura and style of an aristocrat and a certain charisma, but there is always a faint hint of sadness on his face.  He has to be under the cameras day and night continuously.  The long and tongue-twisting dialogue in ancient language makes it very difficult for him.  But we cooperate well together and we get used to one another.  I would say it is good training for him.

That winter (2005) when we were filming “Seo Dong Yo” was very cold and snowed a lot which made filming on location so much more difficult.  At that time there was a blizzard along the western coast highway, and one of the actors had a car accident.  Since this director made enormous demands on JHJ, he normally left immediately after finishing his shots.  But because of the heavy snow, the roads were blocked, so he was stranded and could not leave.

Since “Jewel in the palace” started the Korean wave, the “Seo Dong Yo” locations are favourites with fans.  “Seo Dong Yo” first aired in 2005 when Korean dramas were still very popular.  There were many fans which came in groups to our filming locations which made work very difficult.

During the filming of “Seo Dong Yo”, what impressed me most were the fans.  Jo Hyun-Jae and Lee Bo-Young  are more or less the same age – in their mid-20s.  Those JHJ fans who came from all over Korea in tourist buses were all ajumas in their 30s and 40s.  Every visit brought groups of over 100 who brought all kinds of food for JHJ.  JHJ could not possibly eat all that, so he shared with the entire crew.

On the other hand, Lee Bo-Young’s fans were all high school boys.  On her birthday, they all wore top hats and with candles in hand sang “Happy birthday”.  That was one marvellous performance on set.

(Rest of article has nothing to do with JHJ.)

The magazine came with a DVD.  I stoically sat through the first 10 minutes but had to fast-forward the rest.  It’s not because they are speaking Korean and the subtitles are in Japanese.  Director Lee sits chatting with 3 not-young, not-good-looking supporting actors (two male, one female — I only recognize Bumro’s Dad in SDY, but I think he’s there in his capacity of Jang Geum’s stepfather in “Jewel in the palace.”)  They just sit on the floor talking about I-don’t-know-what, and only clips and actors from “Jewel in the palace” are shown.  There is NOTHING on “Seo Dong Yo” or JHJ!  I feel cheated!

(Credit: English translation based on Chinese translation on johyunjae.hk.  First photo from Param of CarpeDiemJAPAN, second photo from EVERjohyunjae.co.kr.  Many thanks!) 

Saw the following video on Yahoo recently.  Can’t resist sharing with you here.  This is a Taiwanese boy Lin Yu Chun giving a pitch-perfect rendering of Whitney Houston’s song “I will always love you” at a singing competition.  Did he win?  We don’t know.  But he certainly won over the entire cyberworld.  Move over, Susan Boyle!  We dedicate this song to Jo Hyun-Jae. 

Here is the link to the Whitney Houston version:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/WhitneyHouston/I-Will-Always-Love-You–2153012

(Credit: Countdown photo designed by prissymom of wulijohyunjae.  Thanks!)