'12.12: THE DAY' Director Kim Seong-soo "I fell in love with Jung Hae-in after watching 'DP', I was touched by Lee Jun-hyuk's sincerity."

Director Kim Seong-soo (62) expressed his admiration while talking about actors Jung Hae-in and Lee Jun-hyuk, who were named for special appearances in '12.12: THE DAY'.

Director Kim Seong-su was interviewed by Ten Asia about the movie '12.12: THE DAY' (directed by Kim Seong-su) at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul at 11 am on the 13th.

In the movie, Lee Jun-hyuk appears as a security officer for Army Chief of Staff Jeong Sang-ho (played by Lee Seong-min). Jung Hae-in leaves a strong impression as Oh Jin-ho, the Chief of Staff to the Special Forces Commander. In particular, Jung Hae-in's role adds meaning as he plays a character based on the real-life Major Kim Orang.

On this day, Director Kim looked back at the time and said that he was surprised when he heard that Lee Jun-hyuk would appear as a security officer for the Chief of Staff of the Army. “Lee Jun-hyuk contacted me saying he was going to do it. I asked him, ‘Are you really going to do it?’ He even said, ‘Why are you doing it?’ But he said he liked working with actors he likes in our movie. Regardless of the role or role, the filming location was great. “I was touched because his words that he would do it because he liked it seemed sincere.”

Director Kim increased the amount of filming for the shooting scene due to Lee Jun-hyuk's decision to appear, but had no choice but to cut out a significant part of it in the final edited version. He expressed regret, saying, "Lee Jun-hyuk was really good at action scenes. It was a maze-like fight scene, but it was shot for quite a long time and came out really well. However, I had no choice but to edit it a bit."

“I felt really sorry, so I contacted Junhyuk and told him that was what happened, and he said, ‘It’s really okay. The movie is important.’ I couldn’t see his expression because it was over the phone, but I was grateful that he spoke so willingly.”

Regarding Jung Hae-in, he said, “I’m in love with him.” Director Kim said, "Jung Hae-in's role is short, but he is a very important and symbolic character in the movie. We found a great actor who can show symbolism."

"It's just my opinion, but I originally thought that Jung Hae-in resembled the strong, pretty, and upright image of a real person. I fell in love with Jung Hae-in after watching 'DP'. That's why I wanted to cast her, and I think the casting was successful thanks to director Han Jun-hee's help."

‘12.12: THE DAY’ depicts the Seoul military revolt on December 12, 1979, which changed the fate of the Republic of Korea. It depicts the 9 hours of intense conflict between Chun Doo-gwang's (Hwang Jung-min) rebel army and Lee Tae-shin's (Jung Woo-sung) suppression army.

It opens on the 22nd.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr