[Exclusive] Joowon talks about puberty and tough Yong Pal filming at Singapore Press Conference > TV-MOVIES

South Korea's hottest yet most down-to-earth actor, Joo Won, was recently in Singapore as part of a 2-city tour to promote his latest work - the highly-rated drama, Yong Pal (용팔이​/ The Gang Doctor). Joo Won was accompanied by his co-star and rookie actress, Park Hye Soo, who played the role of his sister. 

The medical thriller drama revolves around a prodigy, Kim Tae Hyun 

(Joo Won), who has excellent surgery skills. Hiding under the code name 'Yong Pal', he goes to extreme lengths to get money to save his sister, Kim So Hyun (Park Hye Soo).

Held at Mitzo Restaurant & Bar, the press conference was attended by many media outlets whose eagerness were evident from the constant shutter sounds throughout the session. This being the first time Joo Won visited Singapore, the inevitable question, of his first impression of Singapore, was posed. The Gang Doctor star was so impressed by the greenery and well-maintained city that he "felt fresh" upon his arrival. (His appearance might have just blown away the Singapore haze, we say!) 

Hye Soo, on the other hand, had a holiday with her family in Singapore just last year. Having wanted to return a second time, she was glad to have been given the opportunity and even more so as it involves promoting her debut drama.

Despite back-to-back schedules and having flown straight from Jakarta (the first stop of the promotion tour), the sibling pair showed no ounce of tiredness. At the start, both were rather shy and serious-looking. However, they soon opened up and were in fact chattier than the usual Korean celebrities we've met! Joo Won, especially, gave notably long responses and was later teased by the host for giving a hard time to his translator.

Being an action-packed drama, the topic of tough scenes and challenges could not be avoided. Joo Won admitted with a smile that it was physically taxing and draining during the filming of Yong Pal. He chose the beginning as the toughest since her had a major role, appearing in roughly 55 out of 66 scenes per episode. He also mentioned the difficult action scenes he had to do, such as "chasing after a car, jumping off the bridge and filming (underwater)." 

The most dangerous one being the car chase. He recalled having to drive furiously on the road in a car with cameras mounted all around, including on the windshield. With his view being blocked, he felt like "he was literally driving into a wall!" It is no wonder the dashing actor lost a massive 7 kilograms during the filming period! Nevertheless, Joo Won is glad that he managed to pull off the scene and that it looked great on screen.

And fans need not worry, for Joo Won has announced that he is slowly regaining his health and catching up on much-needed sleep! 

Catch the highlights from the Singapore Press Conference in the video below! Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXdTBOn0XtQ 

Catch the encore broadcast of Yong Pal every Saturday, 4.30pm, on ONE. (starting 7 Nov 2015). ONE is available in Singapore on Singtel TV (CH 513, 604) and Starhub TV (CH 124, 820, 823).

Korea.com's Shya contributed to this report from Singapore.