Park Jung-min, who proved himself to be a ‘trend’ actor by starring in four films and dramas last year, is continuing his activities this year. Taking over from the box office hit ‘Harbin’, he will present his first romantic comedy ‘Newtopia’ in February. The film ‘Face’, which he shot after going back to the beginning, will also be released within the year.

First, he captured the resolute fighting spirit of an independence fighter against Japanese imperialism on screen through ‘Harbin’, which was released on the 24th of last month and has maintained the number one spot at the box office. She played the role of Woo Deok-soon, a loyal comrade who always supports Ahn Jung-geun‘s decisions in the drama.

While becoming the greatest source of strength for Ahn Jung-geun, who was struggling after losing his comrade, she also played a role in confusing the audience the most and raising the suspense to the peak after information was revealed that there was a spy among his comrades. She received favorable reviews for creatively reinterpreting a real-life figure for whom historical materials were lacking based on cinematic imagination.
Having mainly appeared in works that highlighted bromance such as ‘Harbin’, she plans to display a lighter-toned romantic acting in the Coupang Play drama ‘Newtopia’, which will be released on February 7. ‘The Watchman’, ‘Time to Hunt’, directed by Yoon Sung-hyun, depicts the romance between a young man and a young woman in Seoul overrun by zombies.

Park Jung-min plays Jae-yoon, a late-blooming soldier who only thinks about his girlfriend Yeong-ju (Ji-soo) even when zombies swarm him. Director Yoon explained that he created the character of Jae-yoon with Park Jung-min in mind from the beginning.

Park Jung-min said that he decided to appear in the film right away because he trusted Director Yoon, who directed his feature-length debut ‘The Watchman’, and added, “I was also curious about the comedy genre that the director creates. I’ve appeared in all of the director‘s works, from ‘The Watchman’ to ‘Time to Hunt’, but I’ve never appeared as a lead role before. This time, I am grateful that they offered me the lead role,” he said.

Following ‘Newtopia’, the movie ‘Face’ is also being prepared for release. It is a low-budget independent film presented by director Yeon Sang-ho, who has returned to theaters after a long time, and it is known that Park Jung-min also participated in the film with the mind of a rookie who is looking back on his original intentions. Park Jung-min plays two roles: the main character who digs up the truth about his mother’s death and the main character’s father from 40 years ago.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com