And another one goes! Ji Chang-wook (Suspicious Partner) reported for army duty on August 14 in Cheolwon, Gangwon-do, to begin his 21 months of active military service. It’s been a particularly harsh year of losing dramaland leading men to army duty, as this is the last year for everyone born in 1987 to begin their service, and there’s just a weird constellation of leading drama actors who were born that year.
Most enlisted quietly, and Ji Chang-wook planned to do so as well with just a farewell picture he put up online, but fans and press reportedly swarmed the training center anyway. Thankfully for us, that means lots of pictures of Ji Chang-wook with his newly cropped hair, giving his fans one final farewell.
Ji Chang-wook debuted in the 2008 indie movie Sleeping Beauty, and first became known through family dramas Sons of Sol Pharmacy and Smile, Dong-hae. He managed to fit a lot of genres into his filmography since then, from action (Warrior Baek Dong-soo, Healer, The K2) to sageuk (Empress Ki) to melodrama (Five Fingers), just to name a few. It was probably his action roles that got him extra notice, though if you’ve seen Healer or Suspicious Partner, you could argue that swoony romance is as much his area of expertise.
With a hit romance drama under his belt just before enlistment, it’s probably safe to say he’ll be getting comeback drama offers months before his return. We’ll be waiting! See you in 2019!
