Jo Hyun Jae

This very interesting and informative article was contributed by a Jo Hyun-Jae fan L who was a member of our contingent which went to Seoul for his discharge.  She was among the few tourists who had the opportunity to visit the DMZ.  She spent more than half a day there with her Korean friends and took some good pictures that she’s sharing here with us (the big photos.)

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ – Korean 한반도 비무장지대) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea which are still technically at war with each other.  The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long , approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide and is the most heavily militarized border in the world.  The Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which was set during the Armistice Agreement in 1953, runs down the middle of the DMZ.

In her own words:

Still another two days to JHJ’s discharge, my Korean friends wanted to take me somewhere special, only an hour’s ride by car from Seoul.  Most people only know about the DMZ from history books.  I was privileged to be able to visit and take some photos.

Wreckage of a train almost totally destroyed in the war

 DMZ Memorial Park at the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) 

North Korea dug tunnels under the MDL to try to attack South Korea – this is the Memorial of the 3rd tunnel. 

Freedom Bridge at DMZ (separating N. and S. Korea) - North Korea is at the other end

Dorasan Station — built in preparation for the eventual reunification of N. and S.Korea.  

Notice board in Dorasan Station says: To Pyeongyang 

(Credit: Small photos from the internet; big photos are L’s.  Thanks!)

Has our post title got your attention?  HRS stands for “His Royal Stinginess” and HSH stands for “Han Soo-Hyun”, so the full title is: His Royal Stinginess Han Soo-Hyun.  This is our Contributing Editor prissymom’s tongue-in-cheek take on some wardrobe issues in “3 Dads/1 Mom”.

 

 

The JHJ Hong Kong Fan Club had a gathering on April 30 – countdown 50 – to celebrate early JHJ’s birthday (since May 9 is Mother’s Day.)

Bigcat wrote about this afterwards, but this is not a word-for-word translation of her article, since her Chinese is very profound.

Because of a stranger in faraway Korea, Mr. Jo Hyun-Jae, we fans got to know one another, dined together many times, became friends, talked about everything under the sun — this should be eternal destiny that link us together.

I remember at the 2008 Japan Fan Meetings, the Japanese fans came from all over the country.  Seeing them lugging their bags, so excited at capturing a photo of JHJ, wearing cheerful smiles on their faces — it was only then that I understood what it meant to be a star of the Korean Wave and why the Korean Wave would not die.  It is because it allows us to temporarily escape from the world; it provides us with a refuge where we can forget about status and position; it gives us the time and scope to be romantic and wilful again.  

Courses of food were served while we talked about JHJ’s works, his fellow actors in the dramas, his comeback project after discharge, our trip to Seoul in June…….JHJ fan gatherings are always so happy and pleasant.  After we finished JHJ’s birthday cake, it was already past 10 p.m.

I still remember this idiom we always used as children — “Time flies like an arrow.”  It so happens that if you meet with JHJ fans in some corner of the world, time really flies.  When you tear off the page for April on the calendar, time is fleeting by and the time for JHJ’s discharge is just around the corner.

This is the very first photo of JHJ that I ever saw:

Only one word can describe my initial reaction — shock!

When I saw this photo I was stunned!  A thousand ????????? came into my mind…..

Why does this Korean young man have such delicate facial features, like a little Caucasian boy?

Why does someone immersed in the entertainment world still have such pure eyes, like a child’s?

Why does this actor still possess such innocence and guilelessness and outer-worldliness?

Why does a little white rabbit in the primeval human jungle still remain a little white rabbit?

Why does time leave no traces on his face and in his eyes?

Why does someone who could not even finish school look every inch the genteel scholar of ancient times?

(Credit: Translated from the “First of May” article by Bigcat of www.johyunjae.com.  Thanks!)

I don’t know when my JHJ addiction/obsession will end or if it will ever end.  For now, I am enjoying myself immensely.  Because of JHJ I have discovered talents/skills I never knew I had.  Before JHJ and wuliJHJ I didn’t know that my writings were good enough to be published in a public forum.  Before JHJ and wuliJHJ I didn’t know that I have a creative bone in my body to make picture banners!  Because of JHJ I am now more computer savvy than before.  I know that I still need to improve a lot.  But JHJ and wuliJHJ have inspired me to venture beyond my comfort zones.

I was just supposed to write a few lines, but the words just flowed.

Our Contributing Editor prissymom is still fixited on “3 Dads/1 Mom” (by her own admission.)  Here’s her latest take on the drama (You all know the Eagles’ classic “Desperado”, right?):

DESPERADO by The Eagles 

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses
You’ve been out ridin’ fences, for so long  now.
Ohh… you’re a hard one.
I know that you’ve got your reasons.
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow.
 
Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able.
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet.
Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table.
But you only want the ones that you can’t get.
 
Desperado,
Ohhhh… you aint getting no younger.
Your pain and your hunger,
They’re driving you home.
And freedom, ohh… freedom.
Well, that’s just some people talking.

Your prison is walking through this world all alone.
Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine.
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day.
And you’re losing all your highs and lows
Aint it funny how the feeling goes away…..
 
Desperado,
Why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate.
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you.
You better let somebody love you.
(Let sombody love you)
You better let somebody love you…ohhh…hooo
Before it’s too…oooo… late.

In “3 Dads/1 Mom”, Episode 5, there is this scene: JHJ’s character Han Soo-Hyeon (HSH) is at the friends’ favorite hangout, Cafe Agit, drinking by himself (he has downed 5 bottles already and is about to start on the 6th.)  The song “Desperado” is playing softly in the background.  HSH has just come from visiting his sick father from the nursing home, and he is at the bar trying to drown his problems/sorrows in alcohol. 

I admit I am still a bit fixated with HSH, because of all characters JHJ has given life onscreen, HSH is the least developed. 
 
Whenever I read a book or watch a movie/drama, I always look for the “why” in the characters, more than the “what”.  The “what” refers to the goals of a character, the “why” refers to the backstory of a character.  I feel that the “why” is more important than the “what”, because the “why” gives the reader or viewer a deeper understanding of the character.  I feel that the writer of 3D1M failed in giving me a deeper “why” to the HSH character. 
 
We know that HSH’s goal is to climb the social ladder up to South Korea’s top 1%, but we don’t know why he wants to belong to that select group.  Is it just natural ambition or did something happen in the past to make him so ambitious?  This is never made clear in the drama.
 
We know from the father’s ramblings that HSH is an intelligent student in high school -  the smartest the father has seen in the years that he served as security guard in the school.  Could there have been classmates, envious of his good looks and intelligence, who tried to put him down because of his father’s job?  And HSH, instead of buckling under such bullying, promised himself that he will show those bullies how far he can go with his good looks and brains.  Could something like that have happened to make HSH so ambitious?  We will never know because this is not tackled in the drama.

We all know that money makes HSH tick.  He is stingy with it. He will do anything to have money.  But what is it about his life that makes him so desperate for money that he would humiliate himself in front of other people just to get back on the good graces of a rich client?  What makes him desperate enough to lie about his family background just to ensnare a rich girl?  What makes him desperate enough to want to marry a rich girl even if he doesn’t love her?
 
Okay, I agree that his father being sick with Alzheimer’s is enough to drive anyone to think money all the time.  But is it only his father’s condition that makes him put money over everything else?  According to studies, Alzheimer’s is a disease that can be passed on to the sufferer’s children if the disease starts at an early age (as early as in their 40s-50s).  Could this be the reason for HSH’s desperation and love for money?  Is he trying to save up enough money so that he will not burden his future wife and kids if ever he contracts the disease in the future?  We will never know because this is never explored in the drama. 

We also know that HSH tends to keep an emotional distance from people other than his childhood friends.  What makes him that way?  We know that HSH’s mother died while he was still young.  Could the lack of a mother figure while growing up contributed to his stunted emotional development?  Or is his father’s illness also at the core of his tendency to put people at a distance?  It must hurt him deeply that his only living relative can’t even recognize him.   Is he that forgettable that even his own father cannot remember him?  Maybe he doesn’t want people to wonder what it is about him that even his father wouldn’t want to remember him.
 
In one episode, Kyung-Tae (Shin Sung-Rok) tells Na-Young that HSH doesn’t like talking about his father.  HSH later explains to NY that he doesn’t talk about his father because some people just don’t understand the illness.  But if he doesn’t explain or if he’s not willing to discuss it with other people, how will they understand?  Is this reticence on HSH’s part to discuss his father’s illness responsible for him not forming new friendships? He would rather keep new acquaintances at a distance than allow them into his personal space and have them ask questions.  Could this be the reason for his emotional stinginess? 
 
The song “Desperado” gives hints on some things about the HSH character but doesn’t really answer all my questions.  I feel as if the writer has not put enough depth into the character, and it is just JHJ’s acting that makes some viewers see layers in his character. 
 
I feel I will never find the answers to my questions about HSH. Is this the reason why some fans of the drama are asking for a sequel?  Am I one of those fans who wants a sequel to 3D1M?  No!  I have so many issues about the writer, Jo Myung Joo.  I feel she will just disappoint me with the sequel.  I have a feeling that instead of giving answers to my questions, her sequel will just give rise to more questions.  BUT if ever there is a sequel, and JHJ will reprise his role, then YES! I will watch it.

(Credit: We thank the creator of this collage of HSH photos.)

This is another article by our new Contributing Editor prissymom.

When I was growing up, there were very few Filipino-made TV series and movies, which was why I watched a lot of American-made ones.  And I have carried this viewing preference well into adulthood.  I am not saying that Americans are the best actors in the world; I just prefer their acting.  I find that, for the most part, American actors don’t show overt emotion in their acting, meaning they don’t overact.  And I realize that the one thing I like most about JHJ’s acting is that he doesn’t overact.  It is the one quality that he shares with my favorite American actors.
 
Whenever I read an article praising the acting of a particular Korean actor in a particular drama, I make it a point to watch that drama just to find out what it is about the acting that garnered praise.  More often than not I end up wondering what is so great about the acting because most of the time these Korean actors overact or are self-indulgent in their acting.  I find them very tiring and irritating to watch so I end up dropping the drama halfway through (I watch at least half the series to be fair). 
 
My favorite American actor, Robert de Niro, once said (on acting): “It’s important not to indicate. ["indicate" here means show or display.]  People don’t try to show their feelings; they try to hide them.”  Which, come to think of it, is a very realistic view of people’s actions — we don’t go around wearing our hearts on our sleeves.  So I don’t understand why people praise actors who display excessive emotions and call their acting “great”, while those who deliver a realistic performance (those who know how to control their emotions and know when to unleash them) like JHJ, are criticized for their “bland” and “expressless” acting. (critic’s words, not mine; is there such a word?) 
 
MY IDEA OF A GREAT ACTOR

A friend once described her idea of a great actor thus: “When he cries, I cry; when he laughs, I laugh.”  I disagree.

For me a great actor can even be having fun onscreen but still elicit tears from me.  Remember that scene in “Love Letter” when Dr. Yim fails to join Andrea in going to the countryside?  So instead Andrea goes to the countryside with Eun-Ha.  The two are shown playing with kids; Andrea is even playing a catchy tune on his harmonica.  And yet I become a mass of tears everytime I watch that scene.
 
A great actor can be doing the most mundane things and still make me feel emotional.  Remember that scene in “3 Dads/1 Mom” where JHJ’s character is shaving his father’s facial hair?  It is such a mundane task and no emotion is showing on JHJ’s face, and yet I can feel the different emotions – sadness, resignation, frustration, guilt – emanating from JHJ.  It is one of the most subtle and poignant scenes in that drama.
 
A great actor doesn’t have to be cutesy-lovey-dovey with his/her onscreen partner for me to feel the romance.  Remember arrogant Han Yi-Joon? He is such an arrogant jerk for most of “Only You” and yet one can’t help but fall in love with his character.  Remember stingy Han Soo-Hyun?  Especially during that scene in “3 Dads/1 Mom” when he first quarrels with Na-Young because NY complains that the pear mixture that the three dads prepare for her is too sweet.  HSH is such a childish, insensitive jerk in that scene and yet JHJ makes HSH very human and cute to boot.
 
A great actor doesn’t have to make goofy faces to make me laugh.  JHJ in “3 Dads/1 Mom” makes me laugh in many scenes even when he is acting with such a straight face.  And JHJ as Kwon In-Ho in “Untold Scandal” elicits laughter from me instead of pity for his ignorance and naivete.

Lastly, a great actor is one who doesn’t have to cry to make me cry.  In JHJ’s “Love Letter” there are so many scenes where Andrea isn’t crying at all, but still those scenes bring tears to my eyes.  Remember that scene where he is waiting at the foot of a bridge with Eun-Ha while waiting for Dr. Yim?  When Dr. Yim arrives and Eun-Ha leaves to join the doctor, Andrea has this longing look on his face.  It isn’t an overt mushy longing look, just a subtle feeling you will get from the angle of his head, to the droop of his shoulders, even to the pursing of his lips.  Also his first dinner with Dr. Yim, all the events leading up to it – wearing the blue sweater the doctor gave him, the tamped down excitement waiting for her while holding the flowers and constantly checking his wristwatch, his innocent questions about his mom during dinner.  These two series of scenes and many others are forever etched in my mind and never fail to make me cry, no matter how many times I have watched this drama.
 
Only two actors in the world are able to make me cry in scenes where they are not crying themselves – Robert de Niro in “Awakenings” (1990) and Jo Hyun Jae in “Love Letter”.  Robert de Niro was nominated for Best Actor in the Oscars for his superb performance as Leonard Lowe in “Awakenings” but he did not win (the Oscar went to Jeremy Irons for “Reversal of Fortune”).  Our JHJ didn’t even get a nomination for his performance in “Love Letter” (and for some of his other dramas/movies as well), which I consider such a crime – a crime of neglect.
 
JHJ has all the qualities that make a great actor, and yet he has not yet received the recognition that he truly deserves.  But I take heart in knowing that he has never failed yet in attaining the goals he has set out for himself.  His pace may seem slow to some people, but it is steady and sure.  With his determination, and our support, I know that sooner or later he will get the recognition that he so richly deserves.

The Creation
 
When God had made the earth and sky,
the flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals, 
the fish, the birds and bees.

And when at last He’d finished,
not one was quite the same.
He said, “I’ll walk this world of mine 
and give each one a name.”
 
And so He travelled far and wide 
and everywhere He went,
a little creature followed Him
until its strength was spent.
 
When all were named upon the earth
and in the sky and sea,
the little creature said, “Dear Lord,
there’s not one left for me.”
 
Kindly, the Father said to him,
“I’ve left you to the end.
I’ve turned my own name back to front
and called you dog, My friend.”

(Source: http://www.ttlntl.co.uk.  Author unknown)

Photos (top to bottom, left to right):

JHJ at 5 years old with his puppy (1985)
JHJ with his birthday present from CAFE on his 23rd birthday (2003)
JHJ’s pet spaniel Ssing-yi (Ah Sing), taken by JHJ in Dec.2006
JHJ with his army dog Briro in August 2009 and January 2010.

prissymom contributed this delightful poem — dedicated to all you dog lovers among JHJ fans.

(Credit: names on photos.  Thanks!)