Park Ji-hoon | YY Entertainment

As Kang Seong-jae, who grabbed a ’chef’s knife’ instead of Yi Hong-wi’s bow
Even spawning the neologism ‘chwiral’
Signals a real military enlistment next year
“Really want to join the Marine Corps… please put this on the record”
He doesn’t get carried away despite back-to-back smashes
“I don’t want to show off… I’ll spend time with fans for the time being”

Actor and singer Park Ji-hoon doesn’t shout for a ‘back’ (also called ‘ppakku’) before or after. He’s noppakku. That’s why his sincerity feels even more real. He has always been the same when saying he wants to volunteer for the Marine Corps.

“It’s still the same. If I go, I think I should go somewhere tough. I expect there will be other things to learn if it’s a place you enter by volunteering and passing a test. I like training where you drop from high places, like airborne drills, so I really want to go. And the Marine Corps has an age limit, so I have to go next year to be able to enter the Marines. Please put this on the record. Next year I absolutely have to join the Marines!! Haha. Of course there’s a test, but even if I fail, I still really want to go to the Marine Corps!”

In a recent interview with Sports Kyunghyang, Park Ji-hoon discussed a wide range of topics, from how it felt to become a tenmillionviewer actor with the film ‘The Man Who Lives With the King’ to the joy of receiving great love for tvN’s ‘Becoming a Legend as the Military Cook.’

■“A personal ‘chwiral’ scene? Coming down wearing a seaweed outfit”

‘Becoming a Legend as the Military Cook’ is spreading by word of mouth for its delightfully absurd, sobadit’sgood humor. In particular, the way cookhouse private Kang Seong-jae (Park Ji-hoon)’s touch makes everyone tremble has been used as a metaphor across various situations, stealing everyone’s laughs. It has even spawned the neologism ‘chwiral’ (military cook + xral).

He said it was the first time he had heard the word ‘chwiral,’ and his eyes sparkled.

“I had a ‘chwiral’ scene too. Wearing a seaweed outfit, I was coming down on a wire when my fingertips touched senior actor Jung Woong-in’s. The costume was cut so low that my chest was about to be fully exposed if I so much as moved wrong. So on set we hurriedly tried to reduce the exposure by pinning it with a safety pin, and I really remember it vividly.”

Although it’s his followup after becoming a tenmillionviewer actor with ‘The Man Who Lives With the King,’ in fact that record was being set while he was filming this project. That could have created pressure.

“I didn’t feel any pressure at all. Rather, I was excited because I thought I could gift audiences comic rhythms I hadn’t shown before. And after it was released, since everyone said it was fun, I’m praising myself that doing ‘Cookhouse Soldier’ was the right choice.”

■“Director Jang Hang-jun of the tenmillion ‘The Man Who Lives With the King’ hasn’t reached out separately”

Park Ji-hoon, who rose to No. 2 on the alltime box office with ‘The Man Who Lives With the King,’ said he hasn’t received a separate contact from director Jang Hang-jun.

“He did say something during filming of ‘Wanna One Go.’ He said he hoped ‘Cookhouse Soldier’ would turn out well, considering how hard I worked.”

Even so, he expressed gratitude that, since he began acting, several lifedefining characters have found him: Yeon Si-eun in ‘Weak Hero,’ Yi Hong-wi in ‘The Man Who Lives With the King,’ and Kang Seong-jae in ‘Becoming a Legend as the Military Cook.’ He burst into a cheerful laugh, saying they are other names people call him by.

“There are many people who sometimes call me by my characters’ names. Thank you so much. It makes me feel so goodthinking ‘I really acted well’ makes me happy. Right now I’m often called Kang Seong-jae, so I think I did well to take on this project.”

When asked whether he gets giddy with everything being a home run, he answered with a sober expression instead.

“Nothing has changed for me. I just do what I’m given to do each day. Of course I’m happy. I am, but I don’t want to get carried away. That could inconvenience others. It might look like I’m showing off. So these days I’m behaving more carefully.”

We became curious about his next step.

“Well… To be honest, many scripts are coming in. But right now, I only want to be with the fans. I want to focus on idol activities like overseas fan meetings and concerts. I had a long gap and didn’t have time to face fans. Now my plan is to make lots of time we can spend together.”