Kim Min-Gue Celebrates Singles Day At New York City Event

Kim Min-gue recently returned from the mandatory military duty required of all able-bodied South Korean males. Fans who await his onscreen return may be pleased to learn he can soon be seen in a film shot before he served his tour of duty. The film will likely be released before his birthday, which happens to be Dec. 25. Fans can consider it a holiday present, but it will remain a surprise gift for now, as he can’t yet share any details.

In November, however, the actor best known for the k-dramas Business Proposal, The Heavenly Idol, Backstreet Rookie, Snowdrop, and Queen: Love and War, made his first trip to the U.S. His first stop was a promotional event at The Skyview Mall in Flushing, Queens.

“Since I was little I’ve always wanted to visit New York City,” said Kim at the event’s press conference. “Now I not only have an opportunity to visit, but a chance to meet U.S fans, so I am a little nervous and excited.”

The Nov. 11 event celebrated Singles Day, a holiday for singles that originated in China. It’s also an unofficial holiday in South Korea known as Pepero Day. In Korea people celebrate the day by giving out Pepero sticks, chocolate covered biscuits with a shape that resembles the date’s numbers: 11/11.

“In South Korea we celebrate November 11 as Pepero day,” said Kim. “People express their love and caring to others. Also in Asia, those who are single invest their time and money in caring for themselves too. You have to love yourself so you can love others. Love yourself first, then you can share your love.”

Since the day is also devoted to self-care, the mall event honored the self-care theme with a make-up and fashion show that had a charity component, collecting winter coats for the needy. Kim met fans at the event, where he also answered some questions about his career. When asked why he wanted to become an actor, he admits that at first he wasn’t that serious about acting.

“I became an actor for fun,” said Kim. “Because I really wanted to try it. But it remains attractive because I can live other lives in so many situations, in so many places, which you can’t do with any other job. Living another character’s life is so fascinating and attractive in so many ways. Later, I realized that another reason I enjoyed my job was the ability to make people laugh together and cry together, the ability to inspire people and touch their emotions. The more I acted, the more I wanted to do it. I want to act for a very long time.”

Kim began his career in 2013 with a minor role in the drama Monstar. That led to bigger roles in series such as Signal, Because This Is My First Life, and Perfume. His first lead role was in the historical drama Queen: Love and War, which he followed by playing a North Korean agent in Snowdrop. His role in the romantic comedy Business Proposal attracted even wider attention. In that drama he played Cha Sung-hoon, chief secretary to the CEO played by Ahn Hyo-seop. The rom com not only featured an onscreen romance between the characters played by Ahn and actress Kim Se-jong, but a steamy romance between a bespectacled Cha and the character played by actress Seol In-ah. The glasses suited his reserved character and created noteworthy scenes where he removed his glasses to kiss his co-star. Sometimes fans ask him about the character’s glasses, as they seemed to suit him.

“Some fans like it when I wear glasses,” he said, “But not everyone.”

His next drama was The Heavenly idol, in which he played a k-pop idol possessed by a priest from another dimension. Playing a k-pop idol gave him the opportunity to sing and he has a lovely voice. Singing is not something he’s focused on at the moment but he won’t rule out singing in a future drama.

“I don’t see myself as a very good singer,” he said. “But rather as an actor. My main focus is acting. If I get a project, I study the character and put all my time and effort into explaining the character in the situation. So there’s really no time to practice singing. I want to focus on acting, but if a good opportunity comes along, I will try it.”

The characters he plays have taught him a lot about himself.

“As I act more and more I begin to understand myself better,” said Kim. ‘I realize, oh, I’m not that good at this kind of moment or I’m really strong at this kind of moment. I know myself better and better. When I play different characters I discover myself, pro and con, good side and bad side as well.”

When Kim takes a role he first reflects on what part of the character he can naturally relate to and what he can’t.

‘Whenever I study a character, I always find some similarity between the character and myself.”

When Kim began his career a dozen years ago, he could not have predicted that Korean dramas would be as popular as they are today.

“I didn’t expect that k-dramas would be so popular internationally because I thought that Korean dramas were focused on Korean emotions and that being in the Korean language would limit the appeal,” said Kim. “I didn’t expect k-dramas would go viral around the world. Now, whenever I see projects from other countries and k-dramas, they seem to inspire each other and learn from each other.”

Fans can see Kim Min-gue in Business Proposal on Netflix and in Heavenly Idol on Viki.com

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.