[Interview] Park Jung-min of 'Humint' ① "I Tried to Find the Pure Love That Park Geon Has Within Myself"

Park Jung-min has returned with a work that continues his melodrama craze. The film 〈Humint〉 directed by Ryu Seung-wan, which was released on February 11, showcases an unexpected deep romance between Park Jung-min and actress Shin Se-kyung. In this work, Park Jung-min plays Park Geon, a chief of the North Korean Ministry of State Security, who has built his achievements based on cold judgment and agile movements. Park Geon begins to struggle between his country and his personal feelings when he encounters Chae Seon-hwa (Shin Se-kyung) in the operation area. Park Jung-min's Park Geon displays a profound pure love, willing to sacrifice his life to save the one he loves. The public's expectations for Park Jung-min's melodrama were ignited by the music video for the song 'Good Goodbye,' where he showed a seemingly indifferent exterior while subtly caring for and embracing the other person, creating a different kind of excitement. "Who would be curious about my melodrama?" Park Jung-min once questioned, but now his melodrama performance has become something the public eagerly anticipates. Park Geon in 〈Humint〉 responds to that public expectation perfectly. We met actor Park Jung-min to discuss the work and the character.

What drew you to participate in this film 〈Humint〉?

The story flows very straightforwardly. I was most curious about how the director would create this urgent story with a specific tone and manner. Above all, when I read the script, I liked the story, and then I started thinking about the character. I was actually a bit surprised. I wondered why they gave me such a good role. I thought this work was essentially about the emotional state of Park Geon, and the story continuously overturns based on that. I believe the turning points that arise as the story progresses are all psychological changes of Park Geon, so I felt grateful and wondered why they gave me such an important role.

You also appeared in director Ryu Seung-wan's previous work 〈Smuggling〉. However, I think the character Jang Do-ri from 〈Smuggling〉 and Park Geon from 〈Humint〉 are extreme opposites in terms of visual appearance and emotional lines. What discussions did you have with the director regarding this?

We didn't discuss that specifically. The director just said he wanted Park Geon to be a cool character, someone with a clear purpose, and a wild person. I also tried hard to create such a character. In fact, after a certain amount of filming, self-absorption begins. I start to get closer to that character. Since I started, Park Geon can no longer be portrayed as someone else. Ultimately, I have to believe that this role is mine, and as that happens, I naturally become intoxicated with it. Regardless of being handsome or not, I end up connecting myself with this character. So, I was scared before seeing the completed film. The character is so far removed from the current Park Jung-min, a year after filming, and I had many thoughts about whether it would be okay to see that character. Fortunately, after watching the film, I felt grateful that it wasn't to that extent.

You briefly expressed love as Hong San-oh in Park Chan-wook's film 〈Decision to Leave〉 (2022). I thought you were an actor who could show something about love even in that brief moment, even amidst suicidal impulses. I believe director Ryu Seung-wan has properly revealed this in your character. Is this the image you wanted for Park Jung-min, or is it something that directors have drawn out of you because of what you have inside?

Personally, I don't think an actor can express something that isn't within them when acting. I believe it's a struggle to calmly explore what is inside and discover it. So, I tried hard to find some pure love that Park Geon possesses within myself. I didn't specifically think about what aspect of Park Jung-min I should portray, but I believe something that has been remembered within me was manifested. Especially in the case of Park Geon, he has to express everything in a rough manner. He has to fight and run to rescue someone, but he can't express his feelings in front of the woman he loved. I think I kept trying to find moments of Park Jung-min that were similar to those aspects within myself.

I'm curious about your thoughts when you suddenly transitioned from primarily other genres to melodrama and romance. Did you have a thirst for melodrama or romance in your daily life?

I didn't have a thirst for it. I think of it as something that comes like a gift. I wasn't in pain because I desperately wanted to do melodrama but didn't receive any melodrama scripts. (laughs) In fact, I didn't think of 〈Humint〉 as a melodrama. At first, I thought it was an action film, a story about rescuing someone. I didn't expect the emotions between Park Geon and Chae Seon-hwa to be expressed so deeply. However, while filming, when actress Shin Se-kyung joined as Chae Seon-hwa and we acted together in front of the camera, I felt that the emotions became a bit deeper. So, I realized during filming that it might be a melodrama. The most challenging part of this film was a scene where I was listening to Seon-hwa's song by the window, which felt somewhat lonely. Because of that scene, I thought this film might be a melodrama. Anyway, I didn't choose this work because I desperately wanted to do melodrama; it just turned out that way. (laughs)

Park Geon is not a character who explains things through dialogue. You expressed a lot through your gaze, expressions, gestures, and actions. I'm curious about how you approached the character of Park Geon.

I thought of him as a principled person. He is an ideological human who is loyal to the state, and that's why Seon-hwa seems to have left. I wanted to express the emotional changes that come when such a person loses something significant and when he actually meets the person he lost again, how his beliefs crumble. This person is always awkward with verbal expression, but he fights for that one person. I judged that he would be someone more accustomed to doing that. So, rather than expressing it with a lot of dialogue, I thought I should continue to express it through silence.

For this character, you also showed a cold and sleek impression, so I assume you prepared physically for that, and since you had to do action scenes, you must have prepared a lot physically as well.

I focused on running. Rather than losing weight, I was organizing my body, as they say these days. I also reduced some swelling. The shape of my face differs when I run and when I don't, even though I've already lost weight. I noticed that about myself. I think my lymph might have been blocked. (laughs) So, I always ran a bit before filming, whether it was morning or night.

Also, the cinematographer and lighting director called me to the production company's office before the crank-in and took 360-degree photos of my face. They gathered a lot of data, such as Park Jung-min's face under lighting, in natural light, with hair up, and with hair down, and while drawing the storyboard, they decided on angles based on which angles made Park Jung-min look good and which angles made him look masculine. They must have gone through a lot of trouble to do that. (laughs) It was a pressing situation. The lighting director even worked with me on 〈Newtopia〉 (2025), and since my face looked completely different, he made a lot of effort to use the best angles to make me look great. I benefited a lot from that.

While talking, I felt that you seem to have a strong allergic reaction to your melodrama acting. I'm curious why you have such a harsh reaction.

To be precise, it's not that I have an allergy, but I'm worried that the people watching my melodrama might feel allergic, so I feel that way. It's not that I hate melodrama; I really want to try it. I have a strong desire to challenge myself and create a good film.

However, this could be a temporary phenomenon, but now, anyway, there have been opinions expressing curiosity about Park Jung-min's melodrama. Before this, I didn't have much thought about doing melodrama because I wondered, 'Does anyone really care about the melodrama I do?' But now that I've done something similar to melodrama, if people evaluate it positively, it will give me the courage to get even closer.

※〈Humint〉 Park Jung-min Interview Part 1 will continue in Part 2.