Ye Soo-jung has been very close to acting since birth. Her mother was the late actor Jeong Ae-ran, who played the role of the grandmother in the Korean TV series Country Diary which was one of the longest running TV series in Korea. As Ye's mother was a famous actress, she naturally became a child actress. Dressing rooms of theaters and broadcasting stations were her playground. Her daily life itself was a play, a movie, and a TV series. However, Actress Ye Soo-jung barely shows herself. She does not hesitate to call herself an unknown actress for 40 years. When I asked her some questions, she gave a bashful smile and sometimes could not even finish her sentences because of her shyness. If you observe her appearance and behavior, you will never notice that she is a respected actress with a career spanning over 40 years.

Her acting is neither fancy nor intense on stage. But it is so passionate that it hurts. Her passion is not heat given off externally but of the sort that has been gradually heated from within with all her might. Her passion, which even came to be called ’Ye Soo-jung's sentiments,’ has its own unique depth with a serene and peaceful atmosphere.

Her perspective on life is held in respect both on and off stage. Her personality and way of life begin from her efforts to understand the principles of objects and phenomena. She does not hesitate to improve herself every moment. Her modesty reminds me of a modern Silhak scholar (scholar of the Realist School of Confucianism).

“I think most people who studied literature are like me. I was bored by my simple life and routine. I used to focus on useless ideas too much. I built a glass castle inside me and locked myself up. Inside the castle, I pretended to be elegant and modest. Superfluousness, vanity, fakeness... I think I lived with such things. I realized all this too late. Now, I know that things I once thought of as trivial and useless are in fact such sparkling and precious things. Scorched rice (crispy rice crust) nonchalantly placed at the end of the floor might have been made by someone very carefully. There are numerous answers in the world and mine may not be one of them. I think now I know that such things made me grow up. In fact, what I don't know amounts to much more than what I actually do know.”

She first bleached her hair white three years ago when she played the role of a comfort woman in the play Hanako. She has since kept her greyed hair for other TV and movie characters, as if her role in the play was meant to be. She seems to like her bleached hair more than when she had to hide the grey by dyeing her hair. “I think I will enjoy my life in my 70s because I am practicing a lot now (laughs).” Things she neither likes nor dislikes, but things as they are. She simply looks at and accepts those things according to the order of the world.

“Now I feel comfortable with the audience. I used to think that I should never make mistakes because at that time, I was afraid. It was not easy for me to stand in front of an audience. But now, even though I make a mistake, I feel as if the audience forgives me. The audience knows that I keep sailing. Now I realize that the audience is so merciful even though I may fall into the water while I sail. Maybe it is because I'm getting old. Now I can finally see the process.”

Ye Soo-jung thinks that acting that is not convincing to her makes her feel as if she is not doing anything. She is even ashamed of the fact. “It's like being an amateur.” There is a true resonance which can only be created by such a foolish person who can move her body only when her mind is moved. At least, Ye Su-jeong whom I have been watching for the past 10 years has been moving the hearts of the audience on stage. Her fans trust her work because of her personality. I began to wonder what the difference is between a TV series and a movie to her.

“If you are in a play, you have to devote yourself to it for three months. Each time you read the script, you become aware of new things. It's not like the TV series or movie scripts. Of course it depends on the works, but TV series or movie scripts are not as deep or difficult as play scripts. Besides, I'm not a main character, so I have to read the script to understand the scenes. All I need to do is let my acting melt into the whole work; I do not have the liberty to reflect on the ideals underlying the script. In that respect, in case of plays, all the actors and actresses focus on the entire work no matter how large or small their roles are. To understand the play script, we concentrate on the work for a long period of time by making various efforts such as reading other genres such as poetry. I think I enjoyed the time spent doing that. But I just realized that I have recently made new kinds of discovery from movies or TV series. It used to be boring to wait, but the truth is I enjoy it these days. Now I see people during that time rather than focus on the time spent waiting.”

She recalled the old historical novel Daemang (The Great Ambition) in front of the video which was the first part of the permanent exhibition and kept admiring the roles of the museum while looking at Jeong Yak-yong's letter to his son. Cheonjusilui (True Principles of Catholicism) by Matteo Ricci quietly reminded her of an experience at a gathering of a religion that she is currently interested in.

“Sometimes I only find superficial things in the church, but I know there is something more important within. People want to see that, but some churches keep showing the superficial sides only. I had visited several churches but couldn't find one to settle with. I found this church by chance that delivers sermons from a British minister to church members. The minister who studied English poetry founded this small church. He translated the sermons he was impressed with and talked to us about them. The church is like a temple. Although people asked him to hold a dawn prayer meeting, he said, “it’s too dangerous to walk outside at dawn. Just pray to God at your place and take care of your family. Just be safe.” He says that is part of being a good believer. The church is the place where I can share my heart with others.”

After the play Elektra had finished in May, she filmed the movie Malmoi with Yu Hae-jin and Yoon Kye-sang. The movie is about people who went underground to protect Hangul while Imperial Japan tried to eliminate Hangul by force. She is about to work on her new TV series 12 Nights. This TV show with the motif of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is produced by Channel A after six years. It's about a young couple that loves each other and grows together for six years. Ye played the role of a former photographer in this show.

Her next movie Herstory which will be released on June 27 is noteworthy. Ye Soo-jung, Kim Hee-ae and Kim Hae-sook played comfort women. This real-life story based movie is about comfort women who engaged in a court case that took place in Japan against the Japanese government. The comfort women engaged in 23 trials in Japan and surprisingly they won one of the trials. Ye played the role of Park modeled after grandmother Park Soon-nyeo. Japanese soldiers made cuts to her stomach with knives for fun, and she had to live her whole life with the scars feeling as if she was branded.

“Frankly, I was not willing to play the role of a comfort woman when I was in the play Hanako. I was worried that I would embarrass and give even more shame to comfort women. Soon I realized that my thoughts had been too shallow and superficial. Their fight was for a great cause. Violent masculine views are revealed especially during the wars. The movie was trying to point out that ’their wombs’ were women, not consumables but valuable human beings. I did my best. I did not think that I was acting. I did not exaggerate things. I watched the movie at the preview for reporters and felt that my acting contained her story. I realized that this grandmother went to Japan to speak the truth in person, which was actually known by everyone."

When I invited her to the Museum of Silhak, Ye said, "it is my honor," with her signature humble smile. I thought she was just trying to be polite as usual. After I completed the photo shoot and news gathering, I called her on my way back. I was not sure how she enjoyed her time at the Museum of Silhak, so I needed to ask her again. How did she enjoy the two hours at the Museum of Silhak?

"I do not use the word ’honor’ often. However, it was really my honor to be invited to the Museum of Silhak. I actually thought so on my way to the museum and on my way back home. The Museum of Silhak is a special place. Since I was a child, I thought that people like King Yeongjo, King Jeongjo and Jeong Yak-yong were the real intellectuals of Korea. To know that I was able to visit those places filled with their stories. Maybe it is because I have always been thinking about their stories my whole life. Your life never misses such things. Someday, you meet with what you have been longing for. I was very glad that I had my chance. I think I can truly read their books now. I feel very close to them. I really enjoyed this opportunity. Thank you very much.”

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