June 2009


June 2009


May 16, 2009
Hanyang University held various events in commemoration of its 70 years. There was a new administrative building that opened in February. A long 70 days blood drive also started on March 9th.. By the end 6,200 students and employees had donated blood, including Jung II-woo. He and other celebrities donated on the last day, May 16. The university even asked that to be introduced in the world guess record as the largest number of donors in 70 days. Article here. (I searched but I could not verify if they did or not.)
Jung II-woo also attended another event. Of the signing kind. So first you will see the blood donation and then a fan signing event? held at Hanyang University as well. Cr. Hanyang University and on photos. They took so many photos of Jung II-woo donating blood it leaves one in a rather…vamp…state!









































These are from the signing event:






Ready for the cutest:

Great shot!!!








WITAT
Always in awe of how candid he is. I would have been so fed up, my faces would have been very different! He looks like he’s modeling donating blood! And this is how you relax and smile!!!
And…lucky who ever got his blood! Wait did I just write that?! It must be the vampire in me!
April 10, 2009
The after the last episode aired, Jung II-woo left for a one month trip in Europe. He started in London where he worked on a photo shoot for Elle Girl Magazine. Once this was done he headed to Germany and Spain. He visited Berlin and Barcelona. This is his candid post the night before he left. I’m in awe how much he cares for his fans. To drop them a note before he left was so kind!
This was his note from Daum Cafe Ilwoostory: (He posted this photo of him receiving this gift from Chinese fans as well)

Ilwoo Iljimae !! 09.04.09 23:15
Hello everyone ^^
Finally, “Iljimae came back” is over.
10 months time passed quickly .. ^^
Thank you for loving Iljimae who came back in the meantime .. ^^
I will do my best in the next work hard.
It seemed to be a work that I learned so much and felt.
I really appreciate the director Hwang In-lee .. ^^
Ah !
Jung Ilwoo I saw it well ^ ^
I received your thoughts well!
I also ran because I wanted to write to you ^ ^
I’ve been looking for you for a long time
It was a work that I took really hard .. I’m done already ..
I’m sorry, too.
But !!!!!
Sooner or later, I’ll be happy.
Please wait !
I love you.
I will fly to Europe tomorrow ^^
2 2 2
Bye Bye (?)
Here is another of his Cyworld Posts while he was on the last leg of his trip (from April 28th)
These are photos from his trip. These come from his Cyworld account. (The first two photos are someone else’s Cyworld Account…and she is viewing his account…


London: (I think these were taken during the photo shoot but not used in the magazine)


Barcelona:










Germany:

Want to hear what was on his Jukebox then…? Here it is:
WITAT:
I’m so glad Jung II-woo took time off after Iljimae. He needed to rest… An article I read said he took 10 days to be alone and backpack on his own. The music he was listening to was beautiful! Especially “The Blower’s Daughter.” Good for you Jung II-woo!
I love how he uses the theme of flowers in his account. He is truly a gentle-man!
Something I noticed as I started writing this post is that I started writing at the same time of his Cyworld post! Amazing huh?! Which means it’s almost midnight now…so I must get to bed!
I will leave you with one of my favorites songs of 2009 …the first 50 seconds of this song…especially the intro of the violins? Simply genius!
Jung II-woo went on a big trip after the filming of “The Return of Iljimae was over.” It started in London with this gorgeous photo shoot:
Cr. Elle Girl, Ilwoostory & DCIlwoo










Keep going! There is more…!









This last one and the coming ones is the actual look in the magazine (-Ilwoostory!):





April 2009
Wow…talk about tragic…talk about sad! This episodes were so full of pain it was hard to watch!
Yet it was all worth it, because though “The Return of Iljimae” we get to watch how Jung II-woo evolves into a more mature person and a better actor. Here is an article where he talks about being happy with his performance of Iljimae, and still having a long way to go.
So before episode 23, I wanted to highlight this part where Iljimae is with his mom without knowing it is her.




I also feel I need to acknowledge the death of the man who allowed Iljimae to live: Goo Ja-myeong. I can’t bear to see the part where he dies again so…I’m posting these behind the scenes with Iljimae at the prison. He dies in episode 22.



Now Episode 23, where Iljimae finally knows his mother but…in a Shakespearean twist she dies. So basically both Goo Ja-myeong and his mom die within a day of each other because of Iljimae. I guess it was death that united them…! The death for Iljimae!!!

































And this is the part where the monk convinces Iljimae that his duty is to his country first, not Wol-hee. This part was so sad too… Iljimae really wants to stay with Wol-hee…he wants to settle down…but he can’t.




And then on the other side of this equation is Wol-hee. Makes one so sad to see her plead for him to stay with her and he has to leave in a such a cold way. It makes me wonder if he could have left in a nicer way. But I guess when you think objectively, I don’t think he would have been able to let her go. It is a very sad moment for both characters.





And then as id this was not sad enough comes this part…






And we watch the Soo-ryeon’s life come to an end…I guess the way a warrior’s life is most likely to end. She was such a great character…so full of love and sadness at the same time… 


Horrible…
Then Episode 24…a war and Iljimae fighting and helping bring back people who had been enslaved and made prisoners back to Joseon. Then we finally get to see Iljimae return home. Maybe that’s really why it’s called “The Return of Iljimae”… because Wol-hee waited 9 years for him!!! 9 years!!! What…! So we see this:


















And we go back to the present … where Iljimae still lives on!



WITAT
I did nothing but cry and cry in these episodes…! Gee what do I think… ?! Get me another box of Kleenex!
When I finished watching Iljimae…I almost hated him. I hated the way he left Wol-hee. I don’t think I would ever wait for a man that left me like that. He should have hugged her and told her how conflicted he was. I feel very strongly about saying proper goodbyes. I always think it may be the last time you see a person, so you must always do it well…
On the other hand I’m glad he got to give his mother a proper farewell! I’m glad they both were able to express their connection to one another as mother and son even if it was for two minutes!!! I was so scared she would die before meeting him…
So no matter how angry or sad or busy or what have you! Always say goodby properly! And if you love that person, tell them…every time you say goodbye!
Here I will post all the gorgeous photos that I had no chance to post before. This drama is so stunning visually that I kept saving images and images! In part it’s Jung II-woo, here he redefines the word photogenic! And when you take someone as beautiful as him and mix it with gorgeous scenery and cinematography, the results are simply divine! So get ready to delight and delight! Photo Cr. MBC (and the different people and companies that marked their images: on the photos!)
But first, I was so inspired I made this video set to the music of Smashing Pumpkins…”Beautiful”… It describes exactly how I feel about Jung II-woo at this moment in space and time! And the best part is knowing that he is just as beautiful inside!




































































































This is the cast of Iljimae in photos:
Jung II-woo as Iljimae


































Soon Jin-suh as Dal-yi and Wol-hee







Kim Min-jong as Goo Ja-myeong


Jung Hey-young as Bak-mae






Lee Kye-in as Jeol Chi & Oh Young-soo as Monk Yeol-gong





Kang Nam-gil as Bae Seon-dal & Lee Hyun-woo as Chal Dol-yi







Jeon Hye-soo as Soo-ryeon (Goo Ja-myeong’s subordinate)





Park Gun Hyung as Kim Ja-jeom


And last but not least…
Park Chul-min as Wang Hoeng-bo (also known as Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Episode 1!)


Hey! It doesn’t have to be the end…just go back to the beginning and see them again!
2009
This is some of the beautiful artwork found throughout The Return of Iljimae. These images are from the beginning and ending of the episodes. At the beginning we would see a book that would flip one page giving us a visual preview of what we would see. Then in the end of each episode, the reality would turn into one of the original drawings by Ko Woo-young. After we would see painted over with brush strokes and ink textured clips of the following episode, that would come to a stop in a final graphic image with titles on the right side. As a graphic designer I relished in all these! I especially loved the endings of the episode and looked forward to seeing how close the images would get to the work of Ko Woo-young.
I loved the play of transparency and color with the photography/cinematography. I also enjoyed the intensity of the color red and purple of the clips and the yellow/brown/olive tones of the final image in the episode. I can only imagine how much fun it was for the graphic artists to create these images and clips… makes me want to play so much with them too! Great work graphic design/editing team!!!
So I’ll start with images from the book at the beginning of the episodes. Then I will follow with photo/cartoon matches and finally I have stills of the clips and the final yellow/olive toned images. Get ready for an absolute visual delight! Image Cr. MBC
The Book:





Image turned into Ko Woo-young’s Art:














End Art with red/purple hues:





















End Art with yellow/brown/olive hues:










WITAT
What a delight to one’s eyes! I have long admired Asian Arts. Their aesthetics and their ability to turn any process into art is really other worldly! I love the simplicity and lightness of their traditional art, the ability to use a brush stroke to say so much! This is why I enjoy seeing the brush strokes and ink washes and textures at the end of Iljimae’s Dramas. So here one last one to enjoy! What in Venezuela we call “la ñapa” (a little extra gift) and in the USA (a bonus!).

Happy Father’s Day to all dads, father figures and fans of Jung II-woo who are dads!
I researched for a while to see what I could find about Jung II-woo’s dad. There is very little available. He keeps his family off the spotlight as much as he is able, and fortunately for him, the media respects it. So should we… his fans! So I will post just a little…enough so you can see who is the father of our precious man!
Jung II-woo’s father is Mr. Jung Hae-hoon. He was a former television news anchorman. And at one point Jung II-woo was thinking of following in his dad’s footsteps and enrolled at the Seoul College of Arts and Sciences, in the Department of Broadcasting Arts. Later he realized how much more he like acting so he decided to pursue acting.
I found one article in many places… It is here . In it there is a mention of his father belonging to a club of Fusion Science and Technology at Seoul University. Fascinating!
I also found out that his father was the director of a Kendo (Japanese fencing) academy. It is mentioned here. Jung II-woo mentions that his dad was the Captain of the Fencing Team in his High School in one of the Episodes of ‘Happy Together.” Hear the man himself:
(Update March 8, 2018)
If I find something else, I will update it! For now here are the few photos of Jung II-woo with his dad. They are from when he graduated from Hanyang University. I think Jung II-woo’s looks are a mix of his parents’ looks …what do you think?
Photo Cr. Smilwoo and a fan took the third one. (Second one is just a close up)



And this was in one of the sites that had the same content of the article I mentioned above. Cr. Yonhap News Agency

Update March 8th, 2018: Just found this photo. He looks so happy!

Mr. Jung Hae-hoon, Happy Father’s Day! Thank you for being there for Jung II-woo! Know that we are…



WITAT
Awwwwww! SO adorable!!! I know…!
I can’t wait to see one shot of him with his baby someday. Jung II-woo you will share at least one photo right? I hope so!!! I think he will have a girl first…just casting my prediction! 🙂
Jung II-woo looks very sweet in these…holding a stuffed fox representing SOHU TV. Sadly there are no subtitles…but these are the questions they asked him:
Q. “High kick! What did you do in the blank period between “High Kick and The Return of Iljimae”?
Q. What is the difference, attractive point between Lee Jun Ki’s “Iljimae” and Jung II’s “The Return of Iljimae”?
Q. How was the debut?
Q. What is your performance satisfaction so far?
Q. Which cast was challenging to work with?
Q. “Compared with the flower boy” Lee Min-ho, what is your support?
Q. What are your plans after “The Return of Iljimae”
Q. There are many reports that ‘”Iljimae that attracts a woman’s heart’, but what is the attraction that attracts a woman’s heart only to Jung Il?
Q. Have you visited China?
Q. What do you recall while traveling in China?
Q. What is your ideal type (of woman)?
Q. Please greet the fans!
The answers are in this video. Lucky you if you speak Korean! Video Cr. Sohu TV.
Photo Cr. Sohu TV








Don’t know if the next one is related but he’s wearing the same shirt:
