This is actor Ha Jung-woo, who walks around whenever possible. · 6

Part 1: 30,000 steps a day, sometimes 100,000 steps

A single word can travel a thousand miles
What I Learned at the End of a 577-Kilometer Cross-Country Journey · 19

Is it because of my mood?
When you feel like that, just walk · 29

Why do you keep losing me?
When I Must Walk with My Own Breath and Stride · 35

Time to refresh your lower body
From Gangnam to Gimpo Airport: My Walking Diet · 42

The last four nights and six days of my life
Hawaii, a paradise for walkers · 48

Rest isn't just lying still.
One Day I Wanted to Run Away from Hawaii · 56

Protect your 'life insurance' and 'jetti'
Easy 30,000 Steps a Day Classroom · 61

100,000 step diary
Moving Beyond the Dead End · 70

Once you pass the tearful pass, you will definitely find a place to eat and rest.
Our large yard, walking along the Han River · 84

Hawaii Walking Course
Second Home · 92

Walking through the magic hour
The Joy of Walking in the Midwinter · 102

Part 2: Eat, Walk, Laugh

Time for restoration
Why? Why? Why! Conversing with countless "whys" · 111

Cinderella's Secret
Like an Athlete, Like a Worker · 117

Eat, walk, laugh
The Beginning of Mukbang: Daily Life · 123

Self-service food
Ha Jung-woo's Clumsy Recipes · 131

The small but great secret to making delicious soup
A Masterful Lesson Learned from a Conversation with a Restaurant Owner · 146

Morning walk and baseball
The Curve of My Life with Choo Shin-soo · 149

Just take one step and you'll walk
A day when you feel embarrassed outside the blankets · 154

It's hard, I have to walk
The busier and more tired you are, the more routine you need! · 161

I didn't make everyone laugh though
Why I'm Going Around in Circles · 169

Reading and storing human facial expressions
Sitting in the director's chair at eye level · 177

How to avoid becoming a jerk
A person who leaves a space is beautiful · 181

Do you believe in the word?
Walking downtown, suddenly · 185

We are connected
The Joy of Teamwork · 190

Introducing my friends
Old Boys of the Walking Group · 195

Wednesday Reading Club for Walkers
The Mysterious Commonality Between Walking and Reading · 203

Part 3: People, wandering beings who walk

I have a talent that I can't keep still.
Sorry, I Can't Dig More Than One Well · 213

I can't be sure of myself
Mixing: The Imperfect Human Struggle to Capture the Perfect Sound · 223

Why wasn't I loved?
Why I Still Continue on the Director's Path · 227

What is manly?
On Fear · 232

How I Choose My Companions
Along with the Gods · 238

Italian Art Map Drawn with Two Legs
A study abroad trip, not a tourist trip · 243

Mr. Slump
To those who pursue the path of acting · 271

The hard-working craftsmen I've met
Think about the density of effort · 279

A Prayer for Those Who Walk
The Human Condition · 288

Special Thanks to · 294

Actor Ha Jung-woo walks to work

Walking is like that to him,
A fervent prayer on two feet
A pledge to never forget my own breathing and stride
No matter how hard it is, I always get up and keep going

Film actor, director, and painter.
Actor Ha Jung-woo, who has been active across screen and canvas, has returned as an essayist with a new book.
The title of Ha Jung-woo's essay published by Munhakdongne is 'Walking Man, Ha Jung-woo'.


In this book, Ha Jung-woo vividly recounts his memories of walking to work in Seoul and of keeping himself grounded by walking along the alleys and along the Han River, both in happy and difficult times, from his days as an unknown actor to today, when he is known as an actor with a triple audience of 10 million.
This book contains stories about 'the path actor Ha Jung-woo has walked so far', 'the walking know-how and walking hideout of Ha Jung-woo, a natural person, who soothes his body and mind by actually walking with both feet on the ground', and 'the changes in body and mind felt while walking'.
Actor Ha Jung-woo is known as an extraordinary 'walking maniac' who walks 30,000 steps a day and has even recorded 100,000 steps a day.
He wears a fitness band that counts his steps on his wrist and shares his daily steps with his walking club friends. He also spreads the joy and benefits of walking to celebrities around him, earning him the nicknames "Walking School Principal" and "Walking Evangelist."


He walks around Seoul without hesitation, saying that it takes about 16,000 steps one way from Gangnam to Hongdae.
For him, the units of distance traveled are more familiar as 'how many minutes by car' or 'how many kilometers', than as 'how many minutes one way on foot'.
For him, who even walked for eight hours from Gangnam to Gimpo Airport to catch a plane, walking is not just exercise, but another way to breathe, meditate, and take care of himself.

“You must be very busy, why are you walking around like that?”
“Since when have you been walking like that?”
These are the questions directed at actor Ha Jung-woo, who walks and walks so strangely that he now tries to answer them with this book, “The Walking Man, Ha Jung-woo.”
Ha Jung-woo's essay, "Walking Man, Ha Jung-woo," was flooded with orders as soon as it was released in bookstores, and was reprinted on the same day, bringing a refreshing breeze to bookstores and the publishing industry at the end of the year.

Well, when did that start? Looking back, there was a time when it seemed like the only thing I could do was walk.
There was no one to show my acting to, and no stage for me to stand on, but I didn't want to be trapped inside, blaming the world and blaming opportunities.
Walking is how I keep myself going, even on those bleak days in the past when I felt like I had nothing, and even now, when I have to cut back on sleep to keep up with my busy schedule.
I like this point.
No matter what my circumstances are, no matter what I have in my hands, I can continue walking as long as I live.
_In the introduction

I walk from Gangnam to Hongdae, 30,000 steps a day, sometimes 100,000 steps…
Walking side by side with people you love,
I want to eat delicious food, laugh a lot, and work long hours.
Footprints of Ha Jung-woo, a natural person

He is often mentioned for his 'mukbang' in movies, and he actually eats well and a lot, to the point that he says, 'If I didn't enjoy walking, I think I would have easily weighed over 150kg.'
But he says he would rather eat less and move less than he would like to cook with his own two hands the delicious things in this world with the people he loves and walk the world with his own two feet.
He is a person who knows how to fully enjoy and admire the delicious, beautiful, and good things of this world.


He walks around the Han River, thinking of it as his 'front yard.'
This book contains snapshots of everyday life he collected, including the sky, sunset, and rainbow of the 'magic hour' he saw on the road, the Han River convenience store that became a shelter and makeshift cafe for his early morning walks, his walking companions, and the simple but delicious food he cooked and ate after a long day of walking.
When filming the movie [Tunnel], he had to go on a harsh diet in a short period of time during filming to express the haggard and thin body of 'Jeong-su' who was buried in the tunnel, and what he chose was 'walking'.


But for him, walking is not just a means of maintaining his body.
For Ha Jung-woo, walking means being able to continue steadily as long as you have two legs, no matter what you have in your hands or what situation you are in.
When he's in a slump and his mood is down, when he's feeling down because the movie he put his heart and soul into isn't drawing as many viewers as he expected, instead of locking himself in his room, blaming others, and getting angry, he puts on his sneakers and just walks.
I walk, reflect, and encourage myself.
Let's not be overly excited or sad, that even this moment is just a part of a long journey, and that everything will be okay in the end.


When [The Three Musketeers], which I starred in and directed, was released in 2015, I was in the middle of filming key scenes for [Assassination].
[Heo Sam-gwan] was strangely not attracting any audience.
As I was hurriedly searching for a reason and berating myself, I opened my eyes and the filming time for [Assassination] was approaching.
Even going to the filming location was so tiring.
Because people will definitely try to comfort me.
Some people will pretend it's nothing and just pat me on the back, while others will sense my burning emotions and be cautious about what to say.
I felt more uncomfortable because I could feel all of it.
I suddenly felt like an idiot.
I didn't know what kind of expression I should make in front of people, how to pour out my heartache, or how to receive comfort from people.
Ha Jung-woo, who used to joke around cheerfully and make people laugh on set, disappeared, and only a dark and gloomy man who had a hard time getting along with people no matter what he did remained.
On my way to work in the morning, I prayed for an hour.
Please, let me safely complete the role I'm given.

_「Why Do You Keep Losing Me?」, pp. 35-36

Even for Ha Jung-woo, who is called an actor you can trust and watch, success and failure come to him repeatedly like the rising and setting of the sun.
Sometimes, harsh comments like “Mr. Ha Jung-woo, don’t direct; just act!” appear in the comments.
And yet he keeps going.
Not only as an actor, but also as a director and producer, I want to walk a little further down the long and arduous path to better understand movies.


Actually, I'm always scared when I start a new film, whether as an actor or a director.
But that fear doesn't hold me back or stop me from trying new things.
I also think that success and failure cannot be determined simply by looking at the box office graph.
[Heo Sam-gwan] was a box office failure, but it is not ‘my failure.’
The gifts I received while directing [Heo Sam-gwan] are innumerable in material terms.
When someone tells me, “Mr. Ha Jung-woo, just act,” I used to get hurt, but I try not to get hurt in the future.
Doesn't that mean that I'm quite familiar to the public as an actor and that I've done pretty well?
Director Ha Jung-woo is indebted to actor Ha Jung-woo, but I believe that there will come a day when director Ha Jung-woo will repay that debt to actor Ha Jung-woo.
Actor Ha Jung-woo has enjoyed a lot of luck and love and has had a smooth road so far, but he is also someone who barely saw the light of day after appearing on stage at the age of 20, only 10 years later, around his 30s.
Compared to him, film director Ha Jung-woo is a rookie who has only been in the industry for a few years.
There is still a long way to go before one can talk about success or failure as a director.

_「Why Wasn't I Loved?」, pp. 229-231

Beyond the splendid filmography
A record of his sweat and fervent prayers—
How Ha Jung-woo selects and makes films

It is a special pleasure and a moving experience to read this essay to be able to glimpse the sweat and prayers hidden behind his splendid filmography, including [Archipelago], [Assassination], [Tunnel], [Berlin], [The Handmaiden], and [Along with the Gods].
Many people say that he has an extraordinary eye for choosing movies, but when he decides on a project, he doesn't just look at the 'book' (screenplay), but also looks into the 'person' who brought the 'book' to him.
It's about looking into the paths that the person he should take as his companion while making a movie has walked.
In reality, he says, it's rare for an actor to receive a script that's already perfectly crafted when they first receive it.
When a movie script is created with all the staff and actors, they discuss and think together to create the final version.


Even when he decided to join [Along with the Gods], which had both the first and second installments surpassing 10 million viewers, he took note of the fact that director Kim Yong-hwa, who had first tasted bitterness in the previous work [Mr. Go], had returned to the family story that was 'the most desperate' for him.
The fact that fantasy films rarely succeed in Korea and that the break-even point is incredibly high did not significantly influence his decision.
What was important was who I was going to be with as I walked the long road of making a movie.


[Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days] turned out to be a drama that director Kim Yong-hwa had actually written about his relationship with his mother that he couldn't tell her.
In an interview, he described the first part of [Along with the Gods] as a 'requiem for his late mother.'
At first glance, it may seem like a secondary factor that has nothing to do with work, but for me, it was the most certain and decisive factor in choosing this movie.
I had a strong feeling that this movie could do well.
Sometimes this certain premonition comes from the 'urgency' of someone involved in the film.
I sympathized with his desperation and wanted to be his companion.
For me, the question is more appropriate than, "How do you choose your scripts?" It's more appropriate to ask, "What kind of people do you like to work with?"
At the stage where actors receive the script, there are very few perfectly structured scripts.
The scenario is always improved through discussion and discussion after the actors and staff are all assembled.
About half of people go in with the intention of changing.
I love working with people who share my urgency, who have the open mind and energy to change half of the current scenario for the better.

_"How I Choose My Companions," p. 239

What he learned through walking is that in walking, in work, in life, it is important to 'find your own breath and stride.'
He blames others, he blames circumstances, he blames the public, he doesn't care about the atmosphere.
I am just grateful that I have two healthy legs and I walk happily, enjoying the path that lies before me.
When I look at the world through his eyes, believing that even the moments that people easily divide into the extremes of 'success' and 'failure' are part of a long journey that he must walk to the end, I suddenly want to walk with my own breath and stride like Ha Jung-woo.
It is a comforting thing to know that as you go through life, you can 'continue' without being swayed by any conditions or gaze, as long as you have two legs.
The footsteps of Ha Jung-woo, a natural person who wants to walk side by side with people he likes, eat delicious food together, laugh a lot, and work for a long time, are left in print in this book.
For Ha Jung-woo, 'walking' is a fervent prayer on two feet, and 'life' itself, which must continue under any circumstances.


Life is just about getting by.
Walking healthily and diligently may be all we can do in life.
There is no one who does not face misfortune in life.
I guess the same goes for me.
Life may be a battle to see who can escape the misfortune and pain that everyone experiences as quickly as possible.
Everyone has accidents, experiences pain, gets hurt, and feels sad.
These things break us more often than we think.
If you stay in that state for too long, you will reach a point where it is not some event or person that is ruining you, but rather you are ruining yourself.
Ultimately, the challenge of life will be how quickly you escape from that swamp, when you will feel better, and whether you can recover.
I believe that the continuous walking I do in any situation will pull me out of this swamp.

In Tibetan, the word 'human' means 'a walking being' or 'a being that wanders while walking'.
I pray.
I hope that I will continue to be a person who walks forward.
To be a person who never gives up on taking one more step, no matter what the situation.

_“A Prayer for Those Who Walk,” pp. 291-292)