In Reply 1988, Park played a prodigious Go board game player, Choi Taek, who became the pride of the country in the show, making him Ssangmun-dong street’s most treasured gem. As a result, the gang dubbed him a “national treasure” on screen, but off the cast gave him the nickname “Nation’s Little Brother” and “Nation’s Son-in-Law”.
Why? Because he was the favourite of all the mothers in the hit drama. Park has also been declared the “Nation’s Crown Prince” (on account of his Prince Charming-esque good looks), and the “Nation’s Man of Good Influence” for his kind and polite manner.
His admirers invented the phrases the ‘Park Bo-gum effect’ and ‘Park Bo-gum magic’
In 2016, Park became something of an advertising golden boy. Korean search engine Naver reports that the rise in his brand-reputation rankings led the Korean Corporate Reputation Research Institute to coin the term “Park Bo-gum effect”, citing the actor’s strong ability to increase sales with his fans spanning all ages.
Admirers also introduced the term “Park Bo-gum magic”, referring to the fact that “once people look at Park, they can’t take their eyes off him”, according to Korea Times.
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Park was a star student.
Park graduated from Seoul’s Myongji University as a musical theatre major.
Perhaps unsurprisingly he had a good reputation in school, finishing college within four years. He also studied the piano and was a choir member in kindergarten, a varsity member of the swimming team, and was active in extracurricular activities.
His name means ‘precious sword’ because he had a rough start as a baby
Park may emanate the angelic qualities of an individual unfamiliar with hardship, but his youth was tougher than some realise. According to Park’s father, when Park was a baby, he developed a high fever and had to be rushed to the accident and emergency. But he eventually recovered and was named “Bo-gum” (precious sword) by a pastor.
Park’s mother died while he was in junior school, and in the early stages of his career he had to deal with family debt. “I’m [the] kind of person who tries to have a peaceful life, accepting things and thanking for what is given,” Channel Korea quoted Park as saying later.
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For Record of Youth, Park scrutinised fashion runway shows to get into character.
Park talks about his character Sa Hye-joon as someone who is hardworking with a good set of values and strong opinions.
“In order to play the model Sa Hye-joon, I studied fashion show runway footage, as well as photo shoots and interviews”, the actor is quoted as saying on K-pop new site Soompi.
Record of Youth is set to premiere on Netflix on September 7.
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