“Please take a look!”

Song Joong-ki has been reborn as a ‘passionate PR fairy’. In preparation for the movie ‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance’, which will be released on the 31st after many twists and turns, Song Joong-ki is appearing on entertainment programs that he had previously avoided. This will be his first entertainment appearance in 10 years since ‘Running Man’ in 2016.

“I didn‘t know it had been that long (since I appeared on an entertainment show). More than anything, I want to do my best to greet you with a movie that is being released in theaters after a long time. After all, I am doing this with money that other people have invested in me. I think it would be irresponsible to do it without caring about that and only with personal desires.”

With such earnestness, he appeared on KBS 2TV’s ‘The Seasons - Lee Young-ji’s Rainbow’, Jang Do-yeon’s YouTube entertainment program ‘Salon Drip 2’, and MBC FM4U’s ‘Perfect Day, This is Lee Sang-soon’.

This film is different from Song Joong-ki’s previous works in terms of mindset. It took five years from the pre-production period in 2019 until the release, so he felt a special sense of responsibility as the lead actor. It was also a “work that suffered a lot” due to repeated filming suspensions and resumptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic that spread worldwide during filming.

“I’m talking about it with a smile now, but at the time, I was afraid of what would happen if I failed, and I felt a great sense of responsibility to protect the work as the lead actor. Filming was over 50% done, but I had a big thought that it might end like this. I know how hard the (production) team worked, so I wanted to promote it diligently. I’m not the type to say, “Please watch us because we worked hard,” but more than anything, the movie is really fun.“

Song Joong-ki also garnered attention by attending the press conference for Hyun Bin‘s film, ”Harbin,“ which is considered a rival film.

”But we can’t just ask people to watch our film. We all know how hard it is to film. The environment has changed a lot, and it‘s gotten more and more competitive, so I think we all need to eat well and live well. When I went to the press conference, I wore a hat with the “Bogota” logo on it. It was a good promotion.“


Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com