Actor Jeong Il-woo. [Newsis]
Actor Jeong Il-woo. [Newsis]

A video of actor Jeong Il-woo being spotted and photographed by a local street photographer while walking through Tokyo has gone viral.

SANKYO, a well-known Japanese street photographer with 130,000 Instagram followers, posted a video Friday titled "Streetphotography of strangers vol.309." SANKYO built his following by filming strangers he encounters on the street and sharing the footage on social media.

In the video, SANKYO approaches a man on the streets of Tsukishima in Tokyo and asks if he can take his photo, saying the man's style caught his eye. The man turns out to be Jeong, though SANKYO reportedly had no idea he was a Korean actor when he made the request.

When SANKYO asked where he was from, Jeong said he was from South Korea, and when asked why he was in Japan, he said he had come for work. Asked about his profession, Jeong introduced himself as an actor and said he had visited Japan more than 100 times and had been holding fan meetings there for over 18 years.

He also said he had come to promote his first Japanese drama series, "Beomjoeja," adding that it is available to viewers worldwide through Amazon Prime.

When SANKYO asked him to share a favorite Japanese phrase, Jeong chose "ichigo ichie" — meaning a once-in-a-lifetime encounter to be treasured — warming the mood of the exchange.

The street photos show Jeong walking casually through Tokyo in an all-black outfit while carrying a shopper bag. Despite the impromptu nature of the shoot, the images had the polished look of an editorial spread.

After the video was posted, fans in both South Korea and Japan flooded the comments to reveal Jeong's identity, and the post spread rapidly online. Reactions included: "He's a really famous Korean actor," "The photographer got lucky running into an actor on the street," "You can just tell he's an actor — the vibe is different," and "It looks like a photo shoot even though it was totally unplanned."

Meanwhile, "Beomjoeja," the Amazon Prime original series featuring Jeong, was released July 17. He is also set to hold a fan meeting in Tokyo on Sept. 13 to mark the 20th anniversary of his debut and meet fans in Japan.


betterj@heraldcorp.com