“If you make eye contact with him… System error,” a fan said, which perfectly encapsulates our experience after seeing Ju Ji Hoon.

The beloved “Princess Hours” actor graced the Newport Performing Arts Theater stage in Manila last Aug. 2, meeting with over 1,500 Filipino fans for his first-ever fan meet event in the country!

The South Korean actor has starred in a variety of hit K-Dramas through the years, including “Princess Hours” (2006), where he played the brooding Crown Prince Lee Shin, “Mask” (2015), and “The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call (2025) for which he won Best Actor at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards. He also starred in a string of popular films such as “Asura: The City of Madness” (2016) and “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017).”

So, it’s no surprise that a great actor like Ji Joon has a legion of fans and admirers across the region, with the Hallyu star currently on his Asia Fan Meet Tour, having already stopped in Taipei and Bangkok. The JUNIVERSE in MANILA was nothing short of fun with the actor bringing the kilig and stealing hearts left and right with his easy-going smile and loveable personality.

Ji Hoon kicked off the show with his rendition of Lee Juck’s “Relieved.” Host Sam Oh led a couch talk with the actor where they discussed about his acting career, answered fan questions and requests, and even teased about two upcoming projects he’s currently working on — one of which is the adaptation of the popular webtoon “The Remarried Princess,” where he’ll be working with other well-known stars like Shin Min-ah, Lee Se-young and Lee Jong-suk.

Known to have portrayed varying characters in the past, Ji Hoon acknowledged that every person is different in “various ways,” which gives him room to be creative in the characters he plays on screen.

“Whenever I talk to directors or my colleagues about a specific role, I don’t have a specific idea of how a role is supposed to be played. I accept what other people say about them,” he explained. “I’m the type of person who accepts and understands that people have different thoughts about a certain character. It helps me a lot in setting up my own character as well, so I’m very thankful.”

The actor also showed much love for his fans and went all out with the fan service as he signed posters, gave warm hugs, and even played games with them through the interactive segment. Some memorable moments include a lucky fan recreating the popular “Zootopia” selfie trend with him and Ji Hoon learning to say Tagalog terms from “Mahal kita” to “Gigil ako!”

Ji Hoon also acquiesced to fans’ request to bring his character, Dr. Baek Gang Hyeok from “Trauma Code: Heroes on Call," to life by shouting his favorite word, “Shut up!”

Never would we have thought a room full of fans would be screaming and cheering after being told this. When asked how he managed to come up with the way of delivering it, Ji Hoon adorably answered, “I just did it with a happy heart like this.”

Despite this being his first fan meet, Ji Hoon revealed that he had actually visited the country before. When asked whether he had tried some of the local fare, the actor replied, “Whenever I go visit another country, I always visit the local market, so I try local food a lot. I don’t remember the exact name of the dish, but I remember eating some kind of fried rice dish and an iced shaved dessert (Halo-Halo).” He also added that he tried a crispy pork dish, which we assumed was the classic Crispy Pata. 

Speaking of delicious food, we observed that Ji Hoon maintains a lean physique, standing at six feet tall with a slightly muscular build. The host asked what he consumes to make him look this way, to which he honestly answered, “I still maintain my usual diet, but I eat a lot more meat. Since the character that I’m going through right now is asking me to have a more defined body, I’m eating a lot more meat.”

A group of lucky fans also got the chance to take photos with the actor, wrapping up a truly memorable event for everyone there.

For updates on his upcoming dramas and movies, follow Ju Ji Hoon on Instagram.