[Soompi Spotlight] Gary Admits He Was a Little Crazy When He Kissed Song Ji Hyo on "Running Man"

On Friday, October 18, five members of “Running Man” – Ji Suk Jin, Kim Jong Kook, Song Ji Hyo, Gary, and Haha met more than 100 members of the media at the “Watsons Race Start! in Singapore” press conference held at the W Singapore Sentosa Cove hotel. It was the first time for the cast to visit Singapore together. The other two members, Yoo Jae Suk and Lee Kwang Soo, were not able to participate in the Singapore leg of their Asia Tour due to other work commitments. 

MC: Share with us your impression of Singapore.

Suk Jin: Singapore is a very beautiful city, and it’s my first time in Singapore. I like to say the air is very fresh and clean, and I’m very impressed with the beautiful scenery here in Singapore.
Haha: Hi, Singapore! This is my second time in Singapore. I love Singapore! I love Singapore food chili crab! Awesome, very good!
Jong Kook: This is my third time coming to Singapore. The trees are very big, the streets are very clean, and people are really nice.

MC: Will you become the mascot of Singapore’s trees?
Jong Kook: The last time I was here I talked about the trees a lot.

MC: This is Song Ji Hyo’s very first time joining the promotional tour, let’s give her a round of applause! (cheers from media)
Ji Hyo: Hello Singapore, thank you so much for the warm welcome! I think it is a beautiful city, and I’m so glad to be here.
Gary: Hello everyone, I am Gary. I’m so glad to be here in Singapore. This is my second day here, and I think it is a beautiful country and city. I had chili crab last night, it was really delicious! And I also have a tour around some clubs in Singapore.

MC: What is it like being one of the cast members? (Gary)

Gary: “Running Man” was my first time on a variety show, and it’s definitely a great honor to be in this, working with and meeting a lot of awesome people, and of course, I have a lot of fun, and I think I get all the good energy from every one of them. I’m always glad to be a part of the show.

MC: As the only female cast in the “Running Man” family, what is it like for Ji Hyo to be on the show?

Jong Kook: She’s not a woman.
Haha: Superman.
Jong Kook: Sometimes, she’s stronger than us! 
Ji Hyo: It definitely a different feeling being the only girl in the cast, but I don’t think they see me as just a female – I’m a part of the “Running Man” family. I don’t think it matters whether it’s a male or female, but it’s being a part of “Running Man.”

MC: We usually see the show on TV, but tomorrow night is going to be a big event. Can we ask Haha what we can expect of the show for tomorrow night?

Haha: I hope we can engage more of the fans, and I hope you will enjoy the performance that we will be putting on tomorrow. Have lots of fun!
Suk Jin: Please look forward to the show. Since it’s our first time having Ji Hyo around, there will be a performance by the Monday Couple, Ji Hyo and Gary. The members are very excited for them, and I hope all the fans are as well.

U Weekly: Recently in one of the episodes, Gary gave Ji Hyo a peck on the cheek. What does Ji Hyo think about it? And why is Gary so courageous nowadays? 

Gary: At that moment, I was a little crazy.
Ji Hyo: I guess it was good for me. 

Shin Min: Each member of “Running Man” has got their own particular capabilities. If each of you can choose one member and take away that particular power from that member, which member will you choose and what power or capability will you choose to take away from him or her?

Haha: Suk Jin’s age, Jong Kook’s strength, the loveliness of the Monday couple.
Suk Jin: Haha’s betrayal 
Jong Kook: I want your son (Haha’s)

Zaobao (in Korean): In recent episodes, there is less focus on the tearing off of the name tags, is there a reason why?

Suk Jin: I think she speaks better Korean than Kwang Soo.
Gary, Haha: The shows have already been filmed but not broadcast yet – we have segments of the name tag game but recently we have been trying out a lot of new games in our shows, and we want to develop and improve our name tag game in a more fun, engaging and exciting manner. So we have been doing a lot of new things. We hope you guys enjoy it and like whatever we are trying in the show. 

MyKpopHuntress: Recently, Jong Kook has a lot of bandages on his back. Some of the “Running Man” games are quite tough, have they had any injuries in the past?

Jong Kook: Yes, understandably, we have been hurt many times as you know the games are very exciting. It’s not as dangerous as last time, but the bandages are just for protecting my injuries; they are not that serious.

XinMSN: If they could redesign the game format, what kind of games do they want to implement?

Haha: We do meet up with our production team quite often to discuss what games we do on the show; we are definitely looking into it. We are exploring new ideas so I hope you guys can look out for new stuff in the  future.

Soompi: Was there a time where it was too hard and you wished you could stop running in the show? In which episode was that?

Jong Kook: Every week! 
Haha: Me too! 
Suk Jin: Same!

Kavenyou: Fans have been following Running Man’s fashion, so how does it feel like to be a trendsetter?

Haha: It’s a great honor, and it feels great to have so many fans following our trends and fashion. Thank you so much for following us. We have uniforms and we try to think of them as interesting and fashionable as possible.
Gary: The most fashionable thing on the show would be the name tag. I went to a club yesterday, and I heard that one of the people in the club was seen with a name tag on the back to imitate “Running Man”. 
Haha: Many girls follow Ji Hyo’s hat that she wears on the show!

GoKPop: If you could create an opponent idol team to compete against, who would you choose and why?
Gary: Recently Shinhwa appeared on our show- they were the first generation idol group in Korea. When they appeared in the show, we didn’t manage to win any one of them. So it’s good to have them back on our show and have a competition with them.

Wan Bao: How has “Running Man” affected your daily life? 

Suk Jin: In our daily lives I can’t really see a lot of differences, but during our show we always have a VJ running around with us to film what we are doing. Though it’s not a problem to have them running behind our backs, I always get frightened because I’m usually the one whose name tag is torn off quickly so that’s when I get frightened even though it’s the VJ running around me. 

See also:

“Throngs of Fans Turn Up at Running Man’s Autograph Session in Singapore”

[Recap] “Running Man” Race Start Fan Meeting in Singapore Was More than Just Another Fan Meeting

NEXT: Individual greetings from each member, plus some extras!

Gary: Thanks so much  for coming today, I’ll definitely see you guys tomorrow ,and I hope we have fun just like friends. Thank you so much for all the love and support for “Running Man.” We really appreciate your support.

Ji Hyo: Thank you so much for coming, and I sincerely thank you all for the warm welcome. I’m so happy to be here. We’d prepared a lot for the show so I hope you guys enjoy and have fun.

Jong Kook: First of all, I’m very happy to be here again with my members. I always think about you guys, and I have very good memories of Singapore. Come and enjoy the show tomorrow.

Haha: Me too. Thank you so much for coming down, and I’ll definitely have lots of fun with everyone tomorrow. Do look out ,and have lots and lots of fun.  

Suk Jin: Thank you so much for coming down today – we really appreciate having you here. It’s my first visit here and I’d always wanted to be here; I’m so glad I’m here. I hope you guys have lots of fun tomorrow. I hope one day we can film “Running Man” here with a background of the Singapore Flyer.

Extras! Extras!

Haha shows off a selca he took at the Merlion.

Haha demonstrating his tourist pose with the Merlion.

A close view of his selca — catching water from the Merlion with his mouth.

Catch the latest subbed episodes of “Running Man” on channel ONE every Friday at 11:45PM through Starhub TV channels 124, 820, 823 and 876, and Singtel mioTV channels 513 and 604.

Special thanks to ONE TV Asia for inviting Soompi to cover the press conference.

Photo credit: Rebby and ds_dreamer