[ETA news clip] Rain/Soldier check.
— Cloud cover by: Stephe, Managing Editor ^@@^
Rain in Korean magazine Woman Sense for June 2012. (Images: as tagged)
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At the Noble Military Family Awards, today the 15th. (Images: Media as tagged / Military Manpower Association @Twitter / News clip: Source: TV Daily, courtesy of ratoka rain @YT)
Cloud USA 
Well I see that the ROK military is using JiHoon’s fame to their advantage. It seems that they have a lot of activities going on during the year and now he’s doing them all with the rest of the team plus performing in every base and doing the radio dj thing plus his regular soldier duties/training. Sighh Is true that it must be exhausting for him but at least he’s keeping his presence in the music business, he’s dancing and his fans get to see him often. It is a lot of work but he’s getting some recognition in the process as a magnificent soldier and making an example of himself. That no matter if you are in the military, you still can keep in contact with your fans and your career.
I mean, at the beginning when he was in training I thought that it was going to be like that for the two whole years, without any contact with showbusiness. I’m surprised that he’s being able to keep himself in people’s mind. I think he’s doing this for all those performers who are going to enter the military after him, he’s making another way for them to follow. Of course I could be wrong cuz Rain it’s my first celebrity in the military but I get a sense that it wasn’t like that with other celebrities.
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You’re right, Mari. This has definitely not happened before with others. Rain has opened yet another door for those who come after, and has changed the face of yet another institution that folks barely knew.
He was indeed born to change the world a little piece at a time, and he’s living up to that brilliantly.
Sometimes it takes a LOT more out of him than it should. A lot more. But I don’t think he’d have it any other way. He just “gets ‘er done”.
Just one more reason for Terri and me to try to give him a promotional site that really helps his cause — he deserves it.
Stephe ^@@^
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Another reason I have a problem with armed services, they own you and no matter what he has to do what he’s ordered. Their going to work him till he’s sick, its obvious he’s exhausted. So when he does get a minute alone or day off clouds please respect his privacy he needs it. Saranghae…..
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Yeah, this getting up in his face no matter what and following him all the way to the ends of the earth stuff is insane to me. He’s a human being, but he’s treated like an object that has no feelings. For anybody who gets pissed, I’m just telling it like it is.
And BTW, the ROK military powers that be are really, really getting on my nerves.
Stephe ^@@^
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They’re getting on my nerves as well. I thought I was the only person feeling this way about the exploitive nature of his military service. He looks completely worn out in these photos. nononosarang is right: They literally act like he’s the only soldier in the military.
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Nope, you’ve got plenty of company on that score.
(Park HyoShin was probably carrying a heck of a load until Rain got in there, bless him.)
Stephe ^@@^
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I’m with you ladies, I understand he’s complying with his country, but look at that face, the poor man looks so tired!! he seems not to have a break for a longg time, as if they had thought “Omg Rain is here, now we should let him all the responsabilities, we are done!” pff wtf he’s a human being! he need to sleep and has some rest -_- and he seems not to have a good sleep these days
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Being so world star famous that you could practically part the East Sea just by showing up does have its problems. *sigh* The very thing that he’s worked so hard for — recognition — is like a double-edged sword.
I’ve got to believe he’s going to weather everything and then some, though. The last thing he needs for me to send into “the matrix” is more negativity his way. *trying to snap out of it!*
Stephe ^@@^
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Ugh.
This whole subject has me irritated as hell. When Rain first enlisted I thought, well, at least now maybe he will be able to rest away from the spotlight for a little while. BOY, was I wrong.
I certainly do understand the major part morale can play in military life. I’ve been there myself. So, I really do understand that the reasons the ROKA is “pimping” him so much. First, he is the perfect recruiting poster boy. He is a world star and they are really proud of him. So, it makes sense that they would want to show him off to as many people as they can. Second, I imagine that the morale of any soldier who watches Rain perform is instantly raised 100%. That’s a wonderful thing. It really is. Third, there are a lot of good causes for which Rain can help them raise money. That’s what ambassadors do. They represent the organizations they serve and they help people. That’s another good thing. Truly.
Still, I don’t understand why they can’t just let him be a plain old soldier every once in awhile.
At first, when they began letting him perform, I was glad. I thought, well, at least he’ll be able to do a bit of what he loves to do–perform onstage. But now it’s gotten totally out of hand. When Rain first went into the military, Stephe and I were actually worried that we wouldn’t have enough news to even follow. We actually strategized about what we might do with the blog if the news stopped altogether.
Instead of slowing down, however, the news of him has actually INCREASED. Has anyone out there noticed that? Does anyone realize how much he’s actually performing? He is onstage almost EVERY DAY now, which is exponentially MUCH more than he would be during his regular, civilian activities. So, effectively, it’s like he’s on a 22-month “comeback” tour.
Doesn’t anyone out there besides me and Stephe realize how INSANE that is? Does anyone remember what happened during his last comeback tour of all of the the music shows with his Back to the Basic album? He ended up collapsing backstage during one of them. He was going at such a fast pace that his body didn’t have time to recover between activities and he got rundown and he caught the flu. He ended up in the hospital.
Now, not only does he have to perform whenever his commanders tell him to, he also has to complete all of his OTHER military duties. And who knows what THOSE are, or how much they require of him after he steps off those stages.
I absolutely, totally, positively understand why the ROKA would want to use him as a recruiting poster boy, but his current level of activity is unacceptable. When I heard him comment the other day, in an interview during which he looked so tired, that his body “didn’t belong” to him, I was irritated. My ex was a soldier in the U.S. Army, and he had no choice at all but to do whatever they said to do either. His life was a very hard life. Really it was. On the other hand, the U.S. Army did not “force” him to be there, and they also went overboard to take very good care of him and his fellow troops. Their schedules were very busy, yes, but the powers-that-be also carefully balanced the soldiers’ activities, so that very few people got sick or injured. “Safety first” was their motto.
Right now, I’m NOT very impressed with the ROKA or their Entertainment Division. The reason they gave for putting Rain in the position they did was so that he could help raise the morale and welfare of their troops. But what about Rain’s morale and welfare? Isn’t he one of their troops as well? What about his well-being?
And for those fans who keep saying things like, “Oh, that’s just Rain. He loves to work hard!”, I say to you: so what? Sure, maybe he does want to keep busy. I can see why he would want to. Time moves a hell of a lot quicker when you keep busy. And I’m sure that he wants to make his time in the military fly by as fast as possible. Also, when he’s onstage performing, he doesn’t have to do things like kitchen or bathroom duty. So, yeah. I’m sure there are many many reasons why he might be working non-stop besides just the ROKA taking advantage of him. I’m pretty sure part of the problem is him.
That still doesn’t make it right. Nonstop work isn’t good for anybody. The ROKA leaders should remain vigilant about how hard Rain is working to make sure that they don’t ignore signs of ill-health or exhaustion just because they are so excited he is theirs to do with what they will.
Seriously, the idea of his working at this pace for the rest of his time in the Army is so distasteful to me that I don’t even watch many of the fancams anymore. I just can’t. I’m that bummed out about it.
So, you all had better thank God for Stephe, because without her, this blog would likely go completely silent.
Terri :-}
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Straight up pimps, why don’t they show some tact and stop parading him around like there’s nobody else working for them??? Just like J Tune putting it all on Rain’s back. What the hell, its like he can’t expect anybody he runs into to treat him worth a damn.
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Tired and a bit pissed. (Can’t say that I blame him, either.)
Stephe ^@@^
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He doesn’t look sad per se– He looks extremely tired. He seems to be constantly on the move and performing. This would take a toll on anyone. I realize he’s a celebrity (And a very talented on at that) but this constant pimping of him by the powers that be, bothers me a bit. I know he’s a big boy that can take care of himself, but it’s something I noticed and felt a need to comment on.
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Something’s wrong, JiHoon’s sad here. What’s going here exactly? I mean why is he so sad? And he looks as if he’d been holding tears back. These pictures are making me sad. Saranghae JiHoon…..xoxo 😥
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