Y’all know I have much affection for actor and former idol star Yoon Kye-sang. That affection endures despite his role as one of the most irritating characters in the recent drama Triple, and I’m eager to see the new movie he has coming out (the prison drama Executioners), which looks great. Here’s an interview with him as he promotes the new film.

“Even now, I’m still crazy about acting. And I believe in myself.”

It’s been six years since Yoon Kye-sang began acting. In 2004’s Flying Boys, he stood with uncertain eyes, not knowing where he was supposed to go, and is now a 32-year-old young man acting in movies. In the wake of his idol glory, he has been quietly walking the path of an actor. There were people who threw stones, and others who spit at him. Praise was scant, and his path was strewn with thorns. All the while, Yoon Kye-sang was always growing within his roles. No, the roles he chose reflected Yoon Kye-sang’s feelings of that time.

After he was released from military service, we met him in Crazy for Love after he’d split from a long-time girlfriend. The movie Lovers for Six Years was also an autobiographical project.

Yoon Kye-sang was called a traitor for leaving G.O.D. before the sixth album; they went on to release a seventh before disbanding (unofficially; rumors periodically surface that they may make a comeback). Yoon recently said that he had ended a six-year romance as he headed into military service, as both parties got busier and they naturally drifted apart.

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Korea’s first capital-punishment-themed film Executioners [집행자], which stars Yoon Kye-sang and Jo Jae-hyun as prison guards, has also turned its screenplay (lauded as taut and solidly written) into a novel, which was just released on October 23. The publication precedes the film’s release next month, and to commemorate the occasion, the film’s lead actors appeared at a fan-signing event on the 24th.

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On October 8, the 14th Pusan International Film Festival, or PIFF, opened in Busan. (Yes, the city takes a different official spelling than the film festival. Blame inconsistent Romanization.)

As the largest film festival in Korea, it drew a large list of attendees, as you can see from the long list of red-carpet walkers. It was definitely a star-studded opening night, and even included one familiar Hollywood face (Josh Hartnett).

This year’s PIFF features its largest lineup to date, screening 355 films from 70 countries, and closes on the 16th.

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October 6 saw the production press conference for Executioners [집행자], the new film starring Yoon Kye-sang and Jo Jae-hyun as prison guards on death row.

In the film, Yoon Kye-sang plays the role of a new guard who decides to take the job to earn some extra money, but is confronted with the unexpected emotional weight of killing a man for the first time in his life. As you may know, Yoon got his start in the industry as an idol star of the pop/R&B group G.O.D., and is one example of an idol star who has made a successful leap into acting. He addressed the topic of singers turning to acting at the press conference, saying that because of the baggage that comes with attempting a crossover, they end up working even harder.

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Three actors — Ji Jin-hee (The Man Who Can’t Get Married), Yoon Kye-sang (Triple), and Sunwoo Sun (Queen of Housewives) — have teamed up for something called the “it Travel” project, which consists of a travel book and DVD in which they showcase photos taken on their journeys and express their sentiments about the experience. It also includes recommended places of interest, travel tips, and behind-the-scenes stories. The book has yet to be published, but the trio have just opened a companion travel blog called “it Travel: Travel with Stars.”

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