April 27, 2019. Mark that date in your calendar, because after having served 1 year, 8 months and 13 days in South Korea’s military, Ji Chang-Wook will be discharged on Saturday.
Hallelujah!
Ji started his mandatory military service on August 14, 2017. This was about one month after the finale of his hit K-Drama, “Suspicious Partner,” aired. He enrolled for active duty in the South Korean Army’s 3rd Infantry Division in the artillery brigade in Gangwon Province. (Fellow actor Joo Won was in the same division). Unlike some celebrities who wanted to quietly enter the military without any fanfare (like Lee Jong-Suk did this past March), Ji had a fanmeeting to say goodbye to his admirers. On the day of his enlistment, he was in good spirits as fans lined up to wish him luck.
Ji is a natural athlete, which is why he was so convincing in the physical roles he played in dramas such as “Healer” and “The K2.” So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that he entered an infantry that’s considered to be one of South Korea’s strongest.
Though he wasn’t allowed to work on any films or K-Dramas as a soldier, he and fellow performers Kang Ha Neul and Sunggyu (Infinite) were allowed to act in the musical, “Shinheung Military Academy,” which was presented by the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA).
In all the excitement, she lost her purse. Two days later, she received a call from the police, who said they had her bag. She had accidentally given the handbag to Ji along with his presents. The actor had returned the purse to the police station and left a lovely note for her, thanking her for coming to see him perform and for the gifts she gave him.
So what’s next for Ji? As expected, he’s getting lots of offers for his post-military comeback. Earlier this week, tvN released a statement that they wanted to work with Ji again as soon as he’s acclimated back to civilian life: “It’s true we offered Ji Chang-Wook a role as the lead of ‘Make Me Melt’. He is currently looking over it.” (“Make Me Melt” is a sci-fi/rom-com where the lead characters wake up 20 years after they participated in a scientific experiment.)
There’s also talk of another drama called “City of Stars,” where he would portray an astronaut.
Bear in mind these are all offers from showrunners who would like to work with Ji. He hasn’t committed to any of these projects.
His agency, Glorious Entertainment, released this statement: “A lot of drama and film scripts have come in, and [Ji Chang-Wook] is currently in the process of reviewing them. ‘City of Stars’ is one of those dramas. As he is still in a military position, he is careful to speak on any official activities or schedules.”
So that’s all we know for now. Are you excited about Ji’s release from the Army? What role would you like to see him tackle? Sound off in the comments below!
Be sure to follow @GoAwayWithJae, where I tweet about all things Korean.
16 Comments
Hey! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
patiently waiting for his new kdrama is hard! fighting!
I really love your blog because of articles on Wookie and other biases. Thank you so much!
I want to to thank you for this very good read!! I absolutely loved every little bit of it. I have you book marked to look at new stuff you post…
WOOKIE!!! I’m so excited to see what he has up his sleeves!
Нi there, I enjoy reading through your post. I ⅼike to write
a littⅼe comment to support you.
we all love him so much!!
I almost cried when I read this. We missed him so much!
AWW 🙂 Thank god he is finally back!
Waiting to see JCW’s performance very soon!
What’s about “Healer 2”?
Woooo that would be fun to watch! ‘Healer2’!
This is a super long shot, but I’d really like to see him in a Park Chang Wook film. Or an OCN Drama.
I think that Ji Chang-Wook definitely has the acting chops to star in a Park Chang Wook film. Fingers crossed!
Omg, I have been saving that date for what it seems like ages. Thank you for the article, it’s always a delight to read your writings and if it’s about JCW it’s even more special
Let’s wait until he shows up on a screen!
Thank you so much, Kate! It’s going to be so much fun to see what he selects as his first post-military project!