otherwise 1) In another way, differently; 2) Under other circumstances; 3) In other respects.

Random 2: Ju Jin-mo and A Frozen Flower

Ju Jin-mo 주진모 (wiki in English and Korean) plays the "gay" king in Ssang-hwa-jeom 쌍화점 (English title: A Frozen Flower, 2008) and won the Korean Oscar-equivalent award for Best Actor in 2008.

I liked him as the carefree web developer having an affair with the lead, Jeon Do-yeon in Happy End (1999). Hated that misogynist film, though, and not just because Ju didn't meet a happy end. Ju was also in a TV drama I watched and liked a while back, called Punch.

But more than anything, I remember watching Ju Jin-mo play a young hot shot corporate executive in Seulpeun Yuhok (슬픈 유혹 / Sad [Tragic?] Temptation), a made-for-TV movie that aired back in 1999. It was one of the first explicitly gay story lines ever to appear on Korean TV, and controversial, as I recall.

I remember watching it with bated breath. Ju played a rising corporate star from New York, perfect on the outside but tragically gay on the inside. His professional stardom is in direct contrast to the man he falls in love with -- an older, down-and-out mid-level company man, nagged by an annoying wife who only cares about money and disregarded as outdated and inept by increasingly hostile employers. The two of the get off to a rough start, but the distrust grows into unlikely friendship and love.

Wait. In other words, the older, precariously employed loser character in this TV drama is not that different from the other older, recently unemployed husband who kills Ju in Happy End for sleeping with his wife. (Oh, sorry -- was that a spoiler? Heh.) Something about Ju Jin-mo threatens older men, perhaps? It's no coincidence that both of these were produced right around the time of Korea's so-called IMF crisis.

An article that traces gay images in Korean TV dramas says:

가장 화제가 됐던 드라마는 1999년 KBS 연말특집 단막극 '슬픈 유혹'이다. 이 작품은 표민수 PD와 노희경 작가가 함께 했고 김갑수 주진모 이미숙이 주연을 맡았다.

'슬픈 유혹'에는 노희경 작가의 살아있는 명대사가 녹아있다. 문기가 준영에게 "넌 왜 동성애자가 됐냐?"고 묻자 준영은 "당신은 왜 이성애자가 됐습니까?"라고 답한다. 그리고 "당신이 대답하지 못하는 것처럼 나 또한 대답할 수 없는 질문이다"고 설명한다.

드라마에서 가장 화제가 됐던 대사는 "당신은 부인을 여자라서 만났습니까? 전 제가 사랑하는 사람이 남자였을 뿐 입니다"다.

'슬픈 유혹'은 사랑이란 성별이 중요한 게 아닌 서로의 상처를 만져 줄 수 있는 것이라는 것을 강조한다.

In short, Ju's character is asked, "Why did you become gay?" To which he retorts, "Why did you become straight?" And, "Like you, that's not a question I can answer."

There's also a great line where Ju says, "Did you fall for your wife because she's a woman? For me, the person I love just happened to be a man."

As I remember it, the story had a happy end, but it was a long time ago, and I can't remember for sure. I vaguely remember an autumn scent with two men in suits, walking down a long country road with leaves falling, maybe holding hands.

Here's a clip of the infamous scene in Frozen Flower (see short recap here). Don't watch it if you're not 18. Do watch it if you're homophobic.

The fuller film trailer is below. It sure looks pretty.

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