Jo Hyun Jae

You must have all heard/read about the apparent suicide of the Korean actor Park Yong-Ha in his home on June 30.  He’s just 33 – what a waste!  I am not a fan, but I rather like him.  I remember him from “Winter Sonata”.  He had a big role in the hit drama “On Air”, for which he won the Male Lead Award – Special Drama in the 2008 SBS Drama Awards.  He also had several best-selling albums under his belt; he was especially popular in Japan.  Who knows what pressures these Korean stars are subjected to?  Who could imagine what goes on inside a human head and heart on the brink of despair?  Park obviously couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.  May he rest in peace!

My first thought when I first saw the above news on the internet was: “God rest his soul!”  My second thought was: “Oh, God!  Hope JHJ doesn’t feel pressured by all his fans’ expectations!”  His fans are so looking forward to his comeback drama, and he has been asked over and over again in interviews about what’s in store that I’m sure he must feel a little stressed.  If anything has been decided, Star N Hit should announce that ASAP.  But meanwhile, JHJ should just rest and relax.  After all, two years in the army is not summer camp.  After he is recharged, then he can start working as an actor again.  He needs a little time to make the switch from soldier to actor.

We should be patient.  We’ve waited for two years; what’s another two months?  We all know JHJ’s style — slow, maybe a little plodding, cautious, conscientious, discreet, meticulous, prudent…..He will surprise us with something brilliant in his own good time.   

My third thought was: “Who’s going to take over Park’s role in ‘Love Story’ now that he is gone?”  That’s the Korean drama that is going to be a re-make of the 1996 Peter Chan classic ”Comrades, Almost a Love Story”, starring Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai.  When it was first announced that this Hong Kong movie would be re-made into a Korean drama, I felt it would be a great role for JHJ.  He would have no trouble playing the poor boy from mainland China who migrates to Hong Kong and gets involved with the girl (also from China) who has ambitious plans.  But maybe there is a problem — JHJ is too good looking, too refined, to be convincing as the country bumpkin (at first anyway.)  But then I’m sure his acting ability will be able to overcome this handicap.  Isn’t it ironic that good looks could sometimes be a handicap?

I’d like to share something with you about a wonderful girls’ night out on our recent trip to Seoul.  On the evening of June 18 (just before JHJ’s discharge), we went to Oliva for dinner (reservation made long ago.)  Oliva is the Italian restaurant in “Only You”.  The whole restaurant was filled with JHJ fans (all from Japan apart from us.)  We were a little late (because of traffic jam) and as soon as we entered the restaurant, we just uttered one word: “Wulijohyunjae!” (our reservation) and we were led to our own private room.  On the way we saw some of our Japanese friends in another room (big party!)  We took some of our members (who were there for the first time) to tour the place and saw more of our Japanese friends (at another party.)  We had a great time and talked nothing but JHJ the entire evening, especially anticipating the next day (which lived up to our every expectation, as it turned out.)

(Credit: Park Yong-Ha photo from the internet; JHJ photos from http://jo-hyunjae.com. Thanks!)