BIFF 2011│Jung Ji-hoon: "Soar Into the Sun" was "extremely pleasant" last pic

Jung Ji-hoon salutes reporters at a press conference for his film "Soar Into the Sun" held in Busan, South Korea on October 7, 2011. [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

He may have had to face his claustrophobia and even almost fainted but singer-actor Jung Ji-hoon says his upcoming film "Soar Into the Sun" was "an extremely pleasant" last project to take on before entering the military.

Jung, also known by his stage name Rain, made the remark at a press conference during the ongoing Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in Busan on Friday, just four days ahead of leaving for the military to fulfill the two-year duty required of all Korean men.

"Initially and ultimately, it was the script that I was completely drawn to and although you my not believe this, I had also thought the movie would be great with the actors that actually got cast to it," an enthusiastic Jung said of the film also starring actors Shin Se-gyeong, Yu Jun-sang, Kim Sung-su, Lee Ha-na, Jung Suk-won and Lee Jong-suk.

However, shooting the pic, Korea's first-ever aerial action drama with F-15K fighter jets, was no easy task.

Jung plays a free-spirited and curious Air Force pilot named Tae-hun in the film revolving around the life, love and comradeship of fighter pilots amid a risky situation on the Korean Peninsula, roughed basely on 1964 Korean film “Red Muffler."

And to take on their characters, the director and the entire cast, except Shin who plays a mechanic and Jung who plays a rescue worker, underwent G tests, used to determine whether fighter pilots or astronauts can deal with extreme G forces.

Pilots have three chances to survive a 15-second 6G test to be able to qualify and Jung passed the test in one go and even a 9G test immediately after, the first time for it to happen in the world, co-star Kim explained.

However, it was such a difficult test that Jung's toes became paralyzed the next day, Kim said, and Jung added, "I almost fainted."

Jung then further explained, "I guess I had thought it would be a pretty easy test which I ended up paying for dearly. I even have claustrophobia so I had to clench my teeth to pass it."

The pic is set for a local release in the earlier half of next year.

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