The late Kim Soo-mi‘s posthumous film ‘Ghost Police’ has been unveiled. Actor Shin Hyun-joon expressed his sorrowful emotions while looking back on the planning intention of ‘Ghost Police’ that started with the late Kim Soo-mi.

On the afternoon of the 13th, a press conference for the film ‘Ghost Police’ was held at CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Actor Shin Hyun-joon and director Kim Young-joon attended the press conference that day.

On that day, director Kim Young-joon recalled the long years with actor Shin Hyun-joon, from ‘Bichunmu’ ‘Muyeonggeom’ to ‘Ghost Police’, and said, “I sent the script to Shin Hyun-joon around the time I made my directorial debut. Actor Shin Hyun-joon appeared in all of my films. In some ways, it seems like fate or destiny. But he never appeared when I was directing a drama. Movies are like the hometown of Shin Hyun-joon and my hearts. I have a bad feeling that they’re going to keep casting Shin Hyun-joon,” he said.



Shin Hyun-joon added, “I dropped by a class during my college days, and we became friends as I spoke honestly. The professors thought I was a student. We were in the same class for assignments (with the director). When the director went to the military, he promised me, ‘I’ll become a good actor. You become a good director and let‘s meet on the set of a movie.’ ‘Bichunmu’ was the result of keeping that promise. From then on, I became connected with Director Kim and ended up in ‘Ghost Cop’.”

The late Kim Soo-mi, who appeared in ‘Ghost Cop’, passed away at the age of 75 on October 25 last year. On this day, the production team of ‘Ghost Cop’ attracted attention by releasing a video tribute to the late Kim Soo-mi before the start of the press conference.



Shin Hyun-joon said about working with the late Kim Soo-mi, “Today, I actually filmed and promoted the MBC program ‘Point of Omniscient Interfere with Jung Joon-ho since morning. I came to the theater laughing with Joon-ho and talking about my mom. I got to see the poster with my mom and I felt emotional for a moment. My mom told me to promote the program a lot the day before the release, but I felt really emotional because there was only one chair in front of the poster.“

Shin Hyun-joon continued, “I met her as my mom in the movie, but she was my biological mom. ‘Ghost Cop’ is also ‘Barefoot Kibong’ that my mother missed, and she said that she wanted us to make a movie that would make us happy and make the audience feel comfortable and have family love, and that‘s how it came to be. Even now, it still doesn’t feel real that the two of us are talking about movies. I should have talked about movies with my mother, and the movie turned out just as she wished. She said she wanted to screen it during Lunar New Year so that the whole family could watch it, and that‘s what happened. It’s like the last gift my mother gave us. It‘s that kind of movie,” he added, drawing attention.



Shin Hyun-joon said about the beginning of ‘Ghost Cop’, “When I met my mother (the late Kim Soo-mi), she missed the village of ‘Barefoot Kibong’. Because we were happy, I think that happy feeling was conveyed to the audience. I think that’s what my mother liked. She gave me a kind of homework to make a movie like that. While planning, I thought of the two things my mom used to say, ‘I want people to laugh comfortably’ ‘I want them to feel family love, and those were my homework,” he said.

He continued, “On YouTube, there were people who got struck by lightning and gained superpowers. So I thought, what if we used that material and told stories about people with trivial abilities? My mother said it would be so funny, so we did it. After that, the director started writing the scenario,“ he added.



On that day, regarding the sequel to ‘Ghost Cop’, Shin Hyun-joon said, “For the scene where my mother (the late Kim Soo-mi) gets struck by lightning, I hope we make a good movie and make it into a series. In the second film, my mother developed superpowers, but she passed away,” he said, unable to continue speaking and shedding tears.

Shin Hyun-joon continued, “But I told him not to edit out the scenes with my mother, so I ended up using all the scenes as they were. It’s true that I started this film thinking of it as a franchise.”

Lastly, he said, “I think of this as the last gift my mother gave me, and I hope that many viewers will enjoy that gift,” and asked viewers to watch the film, saying, “I hope that it will be a film where the audience can laugh comfortably and feel family love, just as my mother wished. I hope that you will remember my mother a lot.”

Meanwhile, “Ghost Cop” is a family comedy about a police officer who gains minor powers after being struck by lightning out of the blue after failing to make a fortune and then getting entangled in unexpected incidents with his family. Opening on the 24th.

Reporter Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com yyynnn@donga.com