Jo Hyun Jae, bracing for the public outcry

Hmm. Looks like Jo Hyun Jae is in some hot water.

The actor recently starred in the film GP506 (which the above pic is from; it’s not a real army pic) and currently stars in the new drama Three Dads, One Mom (for which I’m holding off judgment till I see the second episode — I wasn’t wowed by the first, but first episodes are so unpredictable).

He recently began his military service on the 1st, but has now just been released from training after only four days. That in itself is not terribly strange:

“According to military service law, if one is found to be unfit for active duty following a physical examination, due to disease or mental or physical disorder, or requires more than fifteen days’ recovery time for said condition, said person may be dismissed.”

What IS weird, though, is the fact that is just becoming known that Jo Hyun Jae left in the middle of filming a drama to enlist in his military service — and upon his dismissal after four days, immediately returned to filming. Something’s fishy over in Three Dads territory. (I don’t know the specifics of Three Dads, but generally a drama begins filming anywhere from a month to several months in advance. A trendy drama that doesn’t require excessive preparation — unlike, say, an epic or high-budget production like Legend — may typically have about eight episodes completed when the series begins airing. It is definitely weird to have started military service in the middle of a project.)

The situation is starting to stir up lots of suspicion and criticism — if he suffers from a severe enough condition to prevent him from training, how can he be fit enough to film a drama? — which is not helped by the fact that the drama producers have offered “no explanation, and have evaded questions” about the topic. Furthermore, prior to Jo’s enlistment, the producers had been unusually hush-hush about his impending service date.

Some of Jo Hyun Jae’s fans are supporting their star, casting aspersions on the validity of the news reports, but a majority of them agree that things look suspicious.

The mandatory-military-service topic is always a source of major debate, and a definite hot-button issue. Everyone knows that effing around with draft-dodging schemes in Korea is serious, career-damaging (if not career-ending) business. Methinks he’s got some ’splainin’ to do.

from dramabeans

Perfectionist: OMG. What is Jo Hyun Jae up to? This is my first time to read something like this. I think he should explain ASAP, and it should be a pretty good explaining!