Hyun Bin Joins Marines, Away for Two Years

Picture the scene: Pohang, North Gyeongsang. A normally empty Marine Corps Training Camp is over flowing with people, mainly women. The unofficial count is 10,000 although one cannot be sure. These people have come from as far as Japan and Hong Kong, the latter of which arranged chartered buses at Gimhae.

Some have tears flowing down their cheeks some are holding placards that read ‘We can’t live without you’. The general feeling is one of hope, love and teary determination. What has caused such an outpouring of emotion?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen; Hyun Bin is off to do his military service. He has decided to join the Marines – renowned for being the hardest and most challenging of all types of military service. He joined the Marines with a physical exam score of 29/30, coming in the top 5% of applicants. Star of MBC’s 2005 hit, ‘My Lovely Sam Soon’ and more recently, the SBS drama that has garnered a lot of attention, ‘Secret Garden’, it comes as little surprise that so many zealous fans showed up to bid him farewell.

It isn’t the dimpled smile or the decidedly effortless charm that Hyun Bin exudes that makes him so popular (although both are rather potent attractors). Rather it is the constant dedication he shows to his craft. And it is the modesty with which he conducts himself and we can see over and over again in interviews and behind-the-scenes. He is a professional, talented actor, and it is this trait that gives him such a large following.

I for one am devastated that he won’t grace our screens for two whole years. Nevertheless, let us all support his decision.

December 16th, 2012: pencil this date into your diaries, post it on your wall where you can see it and make sure this date is imprinted firmly in your mind. It is the date Hyun Bin is released!

Source: Yim Suenghye and JeongSeon Eon @enational@joongang.co.kr, and englishnews@chosun.com
Written by: theodora@kpoplive.com