‘The King’s Affection’ Park Ji-hoon, Steps Up for the Hometown of Danjong, Yeongwol… Promoting the ‘Danjong Cultural Festival’

Actor Park Ji-hoon has stepped up to promote the ‘59th Yeongwol Danjong Cultural Festival’ for Danjong’s hometown, Yeongwol, in the movie ‘The King’s Affection’. The lead actor of a film on the verge of reaching ten million viewers is participating directly in the promotional video for the local historical and cultural festival, continuing the narrative of Danjong even off the screen.

On the 4th, the official SNS of the Yeongwol Festival posted a promotional video for the 59th Yeongwol Danjong Cultural Festival featuring Park Ji-hoon. In the video, Park Ji-hoon said, “While playing Danjong in this work, I wanted to understand, not as a king, but as a person, the loneliness and sadness he must have felt, and the heart he wanted to protect until the end,” and requested the audience’s participation. He added, “The time spent in Yeongwol was a very precious experience for me,” and expressed his hope that many people would come to see and feel Danjong’s story and have a meaningful time.

The 59th Yeongwol Danjong Cultural Festival will be held for three days from April 24 to 26 at the UNESCO World Heritage site, Jangneung, and the Donggang riverside, including Cheongnyeongpo. This representative historical and cultural festival, which Yeongwol County has continued since 1967 to honor the 6th king of Joseon, Danjong, and his loyal subjects, has the theme this year of “The King’s Return, The Dawn of Hope.” The opening ceremony will feature the original musical ‘Danjong 1698’, inspired by Danjong’s restoration in 1698, and a reenactment of the wedding ceremony of Danjong and Queen Jeongsun for the first time.

With the success of ‘The King’s Affection’, the number of tourists to Danjong’s place of exile, Cheongnyeongpo, has surged more than five times during the Lunar New Year holiday, greatly increasing interest in the Yeongwol region. Director Jang Hang-jun is adjusting his schedule for overseas film festivals to personally visit Yeongwol on the opening day of the festival, April 24, to attend a special lecture and the opening ceremony, and the promotional video produced by Park Ji-hoon will also be screened on-site.

A representative from the Yeongwol Cultural Tourism Foundation stated, “Thanks to the film, national interest in Danjong and Yeongwol’s history has grown,” and expressed hope that Park Ji-hoon’s sincere message will greatly help convey the significance of the Danjong Cultural Festival to the younger generation.