With a title like Run Jin, it’s no surprise that BTS member Jin hits the ground running just five days after completing his military service. Whether he’s hiking Mt. Hallasan or getting soaked in a remake of a classic variety show game, he’s running on all cylinders to make everyone laugh. As the star of the show, Jin not only plays host to a number of celebrity guests, but also interacts with a mix of bystanders like children at Internet and kids cafes. Amazingly, even with everything going on, Jin is consistently friendly, polite, and fun—in other words, the idol radiates his trademark entertaining and authentic self. We sat down with Ryu Songhui, head of HYBE Media Studio’s Original Content Planning Team who was behind season 1 of Run Jin released in 2024, and writer Yoo Jeong Min to get a behind-the-scenes peek, including some inspirations for the show.
Run Jin opens with Jin hiking up Mt. Hallasan. Jin eagerly took to a variety of hard but doable challenges and locations to keep things entertaining and fun.
Ryu Songhui: Jin was actually the one who came up with the title Run Jin. A lot of YouTube series these days use a talk show format, but he seemed to like variety shows, too. He was particularly keen to do Dangerous Invitation. So we followed along and leaned into the variety show concept, planned the episodes accordingly, and focused on taking the tried-and-true variety show format and updating it to fit with newer trends. Since Jin was the first one in BTS to complete his military service, we also looked at things from a production standpoint to carefully consider how we could use the show to express his gratitude toward ARMY. We wanted to show how determined Jin was to give his all for ARMY, which is how the Mt. Hallasan hike was born. Even Jin only found out he’d be going after seeing it in the teaser that came out right after his hug event. (laughs)
Yoo Jeong Min: As he’s said in interviews, Jin felt a strong sense of responsibility regarding the off period as the oldest member and the first to return from the army. He told us, “I can handle some tough stuff. Feel free to really put me through the grinder and make it hard on me.” He was more than willing to follow along and take on the hard stuff. I see Mt. Hallasan as a symbolic challenge demonstrating his determination to give people this much and more going forward. Behind the scenes, Jin had so much energy that he practically flew up the mountain. When the crew finally caught up, he even said, “Oh, I didn’t think you’d actually make it.” (laughs) Filming it brought everyone, staff included, closer together. Going up Mt. Hallasan with Jin has left us with so many stories that we’ll be telling each other for a long time to come.
You accurately recreated the set of the old variety show Dangerous Invitation and had a whole supporting cast in zombie makeup getting into their roles. With the sheer scale of the surprises in each episode, there must’ve been a lot of effort going on behind the scenes on the part of the crew.
Yoo Jeong Min: Honestly, as much as we thought doing an iconic classic variety show like Dangerous Invitation would be fun, it seemed too difficult to pull off. Being able to make it happen this time felt like a dream come true for the crew as well. In the “Freeze! Polliceping” episode, we didn’t think it’d actually be possible to enlist help from the Coast Guard, but to our surprise, they were quick to get on board. We had to calculate when the helicopter was in the air and when we arrived and delay the shoot for that, which was tense, as Songhui will probably agree.
Ryu Songhui: We used a backhoe to dig for that one, but we had to run through it the day before, so we actually went down to the beach with shovels and started digging. We were saying, How deep should we go to get the best shot? (laughs) We had no idea we were going to get an actual backhoe for the shoot. And getting 30 extras together in zombie makeup wasn’t easy either, but from a directing standpoint, it was really fun undertaking those kinds of creative challenges.
“Goodbye, Jin” felt like a super fun episode thanks to its perfect balance between showcasing Jin’s personality, clever planning by the crew, and having great guests. There must’ve been moments during the shoot when you could tell it was really “working.”
Ryu Songhui: Jin honestly worked incredibly hard shooting Run Jin, and naturally, so did the team behind the scenes. But with that episode, we took a bit of a more relaxed approach. (laughs) Dong Hyun Kim is such a natural when it comes to variety shows, and he’s showing off his personal expertise in the episode, so he even came up with an outline for the shoot right from the table read. It’s usually hard to make sports-related segments fun, but everything came together on set.
Yoo Jeong Min: The shoot was so much fun. Those of us in the crew got such a kick out of just watching everything unfold. (laughs) It was Jin’s second shoot with Dong Hyun Kim but his first time meeting Jonathan [Yiombi]. The chemistry between the three was great right from the instant the cameras were rolling, and I’m sure Songhui could probably tell how well it was working, too. Jonathan would crack a joke like, “I gotta get off Instagram,” and the way Dong Hyun would riff on it perfectly was hilarious. And we were all in amazement at how energetic and in shape Jin was. When he did the fitness test, we couldn’t believe it. We were like, I didn’t realize he was that fit.
You had a lineup of celebrity guests who were all different from Jin but had entertaining interactions with him. What did you go through to get them on the show?
Ryu Songhui: The first step was reaching out to people who had any kind of connection with Jin. Jee Seokjin was an obvious choice for the well-known combination of Seokjin and Seokjin. What happened with Lee Yi Kyung was that we were brainstorming ideas around tennis when we found out that he and Jin had gone to the same acting academy. And it turned out Yi Kyung had also done a tennis show before. Frankly, things can get a little awkward when there isn’t much existing overlap, but they saw each other as old friends and they had some unexpectedly funny moments together.
Yoo Jeong Min: When getting multiple guests, there needs to be things to bring them together or mutual connections between them, and we have to think about the chemistry they might have. And it wasn’t easy working between them to make sure all their schedules aligned. But almost every time we invited someone on, they came back with a positive response, so for us in the crew, we felt an overwhelming sense of pride over our superstar. (laughs) They were all so nice.
It’s safe to say the guest ARMY was most thrilled about was j-hope. Jin had previously warned that he was going to kidnap him, and Jin really did prank him the very next day after j-hope was discharged.
Yoo Jeong Min: j-hope had mentioned it on weverse LIVE, too, and ARMY was waiting for it for so long that I think they sort of saw it coming. What no one knew was that it’d play out on that day. (laughs) Since it’s common knowledge that j-hope is very much a type J [personality type that prefers to plan things out], it must’ve caught him off guard to be part of something he hadn’t planned. Jin really wanted to surprise him, so even his closest staff members kept the details under wraps. Jin said, “He just got out [of the army] yesterday, but let’s take him right back—if you go, I’ll go.” As for the crew, we designed things around the fact that they’re both scaredy-cats.
Ryu Songhui: Jin clearly loves pranking j-hope, but instead of doing what Jin wanted exactly, we planned it out so it would be a prank on him, too. (laughs) The main goal behind “It’s Me, Zombie” was to show the two working together. As seen in the show, Jin originally wanted to do drill training, and shooting guns felt similar enough. They were also both given the title of “elite soldier” but that had never been captured on camera, so it was a chance to show that. We went back and forth with the writers and ended up incorporating elements of zombie and thriller movies to make it fun for viewers. Since this was the day after j-hope’s discharge, we wanted to give him something, so we framed the ending as it all having been so they could have a party with the zombies. We spared nothing to make sure both of them enjoyed the experience.
Beyond just the celebrity guests Jin knew, he also had great chemistry with people like other hikers and kids he met. What was the production crew hoping to show by having him meet all these different people?
Ryu Songhui: We wanted to show how approachable Jin is. Teens today obviously know who BTS is, but they might feel like they’re sort of far away, so we wanted to show Jin mingling with them. Jin didn’t know ahead of time who would be on the show, and there was no way to know how anyone would react. It was something we had to navigate, too, since it was new for us as well. But Jin even took care of the things we weren’t able to. For example, even though the kids in the “Blood, Sweat & Peppers” episode could’ve felt awkward on camera since they’d never been on TV, Jin immediately made them feel comfortable by purposely joking around and breaking the ice. I really appreciate that he made it easy on everyone.
Yoo Jeong Min: Jin really shines in situations like those. When he visited his old school in the “Glorious Homecoming” episode, he came across as a kind big brother type to the kids there, and even though they were calling him a superstar, they felt comfortable around him. Jin’s laid-back but always sure to be respectful, and that part of his charm seemed to come across effortlessly. As producers, you’re always thinking about the chemistry between the people who appear onscreen, but the fact is that it’s not always easy to get everyone perfectly on the same page. And yet, no matter who comes on, Jin manages to make it fun. Run Jin is less about what the producers want and more about tailoring it to Jin, and he handled everything so well, it was like, He’s a natural now. (laughs) A professional, in short.
The core of what makes Run Jin so fun to watch seems to be how genuine Jin’s reactions are thanks to him only knowing the bare minimum about what’s happening. What really stands out to you from having taken that approach?
Ryu Songhui: There’s definitely different reactions when the people on a show don’t know what’s coming compared to when they do, and we wanted to lean into that. Jin thought the approach was more fun too. He was really fond of Run Jin, so even when he was hearing about a plan for the first time the day of, he worked with it and did a great job.
Yoo Jeong Min: Of course, there were times he’d say things like, “What kind of producers are you?” (laughs) But he also felt his reactions were more real when he didn’t know what’s coming, so he really wanted to keep himself in the dark. Sometimes he would suspect something was up, like in “Freeze! Polliceping,” but he never could’ve expected a ship or a helicopter. When he says things like, “No way, they actually booked the Coast Guard?”—that’s 100% authentic. (laughs) He really wanted to make it funny, and talked about what ARMY would like. He was deeply invested and was always giving us feedback. ARMY probably already knows that, but I hope they know that the crew felt the same way, too. Jin poured his heart and soul into everything with the utmost love for it.
Ryu Songhui: Jin has a unique ability to bring out something new and different with guests of all ages. I think he’s naturally suited to variety shows. His influence, coupled with the writing and the directing team’s efforts, helped make the collaborations with all the different guests and institutions fun. All we had to do was set the stage, and Jin ensured it turned into great content. For that, we’re incredibly grateful.