Jo Hyun Jae

We feel a little saturated with Han Kang.  Remember his predecessor Han Soo-Hyun?  Handsomest guy in a suit!

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TUDOU

YOUTUBE:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs_45rqh3Ho
 

(Credit: Creator of MV:Hiro; http://tvport.daum.net; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

The following photos show the shooting of those scenes on the golf course in “3 Dads/1 Mom” — among the most hilarious but also the most ridiculous in the drama.  Anybody with any sense knows Han Soo-Hyun in a suit and dress shoes would never be allowed on the green.  I don’t like to be treated like an idiot by the Korean makers of this drama, but more importantly, I don’t like their making HSH look like an idiot.  JHJ looks very uncomfortable in these scenes because he knows he’s being made to look like a fool (which HSH is not!)  So often in watching Korean dramas I have to remember Coleridge’s dictum of “willing suspension of disbelief”.

(Credit: www.everjohyunjae.co.kr; www.johyunjae.hk. Thanks!)

Jo Hyun-Jae as Han Soo-Hyun in “3 Dads/1 Mom”:

(Credit: ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!) 

“3 Dads/1 Mom” begins its re-run on Japan’s KBS World on November 1.

Jo Hyun-Jae’s Han Soo-Hyun is every woman’s dreamboat (in spite of his stinginess and relentless pursuit of wealth.)

The following video is a TV preview of the drama:

Jo Hyun-Jae’s old dramas are being shown over and over again in different parts of the world.

3 Dads/1 Mom — on Japan’s KBS World (from November 1, 2010)

Only You — on Japan’s food channel FOODIESTV (from October 6)

Great Ambition (Dae Mang) — on Taiwan’s GTV (from October 2) 

Remember this scene from “3 Dads/1 Mom”?  I remember thinking then: “How could they not be father and daughter?  Even their sleeping postures are the same!”  Why do the scriptwriter and director deliberately mislead us?

You have to hand it to the Japanese — they can discover everything related to JHJ dramas.  They even managed to find out about Han Soo-Hyun’s bed and where it can be bought online!  See for yourselves.

(Credit: ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN. Thanks!)

“3 Dads/1 Mom” is currently showing on TVB HD Channel in Hong Kong

July 30, 2010  Yonhap News (Hong Kong)

Recently in Hong Kong Hallyu (Korean Wave) is again on the rise.  Hong Kong’s major TV networks are competing with one another to show Korean dramas.  The various media (newspapers and magazines) are also publishing articles on a daily basis on Korean culture, art, cuisine, and travel.

“Oriental Daily” published an article on July 27 and 28 by Chan Man Hung, Head of the China Business Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in which he evaluates Korean culture and economics.

The title is: “Hallyu rising, supersedes Japan”, and in the article Chan mentions Korean cosmetics have now surpassed those made in Japan and have become a major Korean product.

He says in the past Korean cosmetics are way behind Japanese products, but in the last ten years they have developed by leaps and bounds.  On the other hand, Japanese brands have become stagnant.  According to Chan, Korean brands develop so rapidly because of creativity.

Korean cosmetics are immensely popular in the Asian market.  Myeong-dong in Seoul is the best place for Asian tourists to shop for cosmetics.  Chan emphasizes that Korean cosmetics have become major products in Hallyu, along with Korean fashion, skincare products, Korean dramas, and K-POP.

Chan also says that Korean manufacturing industry - whether it is Samsung, Hyundai Motors and other big enterprises or famous brand names – all emphasize creativity and change and integrate with local culture to develop new markets in every part of the world.  He also points out Hong Kong should learn from Korea in this respect.

Apart from this, in July alone, Hong Kong and Macau media have published more than 30 articles on Korea, introducing Korean culture, cuisine, shopping, and travel.

According to statistics released by the Korean Consulate in Hong Kong, up to April 2010 the two big TV stations – TVB and ATV – have shown 24 Korean dramas.

inkyoung@yna.co.kr (translated into English by wulijohyunjae)

For the benefit of those who cannot read either the Korean or Chinese subtitles in the video above, the only pertinent things said are:

Jae Hee on JHJ: “Most people think of him as rather inflexible, but actually after a few drinks he opens up and talks a lot and is really interesting.  He’s very comfortable to be with.”

Eugene on JHJ: “Not as sharp as I imagined, but comfortable to be with, like the boy next door.”

The one thing that JHJ says towards the end which makes everybody laugh (and which is branded as JHJ type of humour) is: “Short drama scripts are usually produced very slowly.”  His remark is in response to what Eugene says about their being kept in the dark about the identity of the father.

JHJ describes “3 Dads/1 Mom” as the kind of drama that you’d like to watch after a hard day at the office, that would make you relax and have a good time.

(Credit: http://chinese.yonhapnews.co.kr; www.johyunjae.hk.  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”.

 

 

“3 Dads/1 Mom” premiered in Korea in early April 2008 and has since been shown and re-shown in other countries like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand (any more?)  Watching this video brings back all the fun (the second half of the video is ALL JHJ.)  No wonder they did a re-make in the Philippines.  Jo Hyun-Jae’s Han Soo-Hyun looks absolutely dashing in a suit or casual wear.  We wonder what the Filipino HSH looks like.

(Credit: Photos by ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN; www.johyunjae.hk. Thanks!)

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.)