5 of the 7 cast members of the popular Korean variety show Running Man were in town on 28 Nov 2014 to promote their 4-year old program. Jee Seok Jin, Kim Jong Kook, Song Ji Hyo, Lee Kwang Soo and HaHa (Ha Dong Hoon) met with the media on Friday evening, prior to their autograph session (Suntec City Mall) and fan meeting, both to be held the next day.

The media conference started with the cliché question of what the stars liked about our sunny island, with the usual responses being beautiful city, clean streets, greenery, perfect weather (compared to the 11 degrees Celsius temperature in Seoul currently), enthusiastic fans, plus not forgetting, the chilli and pepper crabs. Song Ji Hyo, whom fans sighted in Sentosa a day earlier, claimed that the aquarium was really exciting and she planned to visit the Night Safari next. Lee Kwang Soo then chipped in "I was on the transformer (ride) at the Universal Studio in Singapore and it was amazing, I really want to go back there again".

Being one of the members in this No. 1 rated program across all pay TV channels in Singapore during its time belt, Kim Jong Kook shared that "I'm really honoured to be a part of this big show that many people love, really very happy... we all have big responsibility in this show and we always try to keep our fans happy". Jee Seok Jin mirrored the same sentiments to feel honoured and lucky to receive such love and welcome from all the fans wherever they visit.

As Singapore is the last leg of the Race Start Season 2 Running Man Fan Meeting tour, Song Ji Hyo emphasized that "we're sure to give our everything and have a memorable time at the event tomorrow" speaking while the guys fooled around, combining their arms to show love-shaped signals to the media.

The group's camaraderie is clearly evident in their response to the question if any of them treat Lee Kwang Soo differently now that he has won an Excellence Award (Actor) for his drama It's Okay, That's Love, Kim Jong Kook immediately said: "Kwang Soo is very cocky right now, he knows he's a superstar", with HaHa joining in "Kwang Soo has higher shoulders now, we can't even eat at the same table. The number of staff following him has increased to fifteen -- 5 for hair, 5 for make-up and another 5 stylists". While Kim Jong Kook put the story straight "this has never happened before, we are just joking... I'll hit him if he (ever) changes", HaHa and Song Ji Hyo pretended to pamper Lee Kwang Soo, who played along, looking conceited like a spoilt prince.

It brings no surprise then that Lee Kwang Soo chose the episode which was filmed in Vietnam where he was nicknamed Asia's Prince, as his favourite episode among the 222 episodes that had been aired in Korea (as of 23 November 2014). For HaHa, he finds the first episode the most memorable "it was a big step for all of us, felt like we had been filming non-stop for 30 hours straight... if we go back to re-do that episode, I hope everybody will do better now". Forced to choose, Song Ji Hyo will pick the episodes where only Running Man members participated (without any special guest) "it's the only time that we can really bond as a team". Kim Jong Kook found every episode meaningful, although he liked the one which invited the Sports stars, he was unable to pick any one episode as his favourite as he liked them all. Jee Suk Jin was really thankful for one of their guest Jacky Chan, who happens to be their idol "although he only had 3 hours, we had so much fun together... really appreciate the time he had spent with us"

On the Chinese version of Running Man, Haha outed that Kim Jong Kook  is the king in China while the muscle man claimed "it was kind of awkward in the beginning... most of the staff members were Koreans and we became really comfortable and have a responsibility to show the Chinese team how to do the tasks right. We had a great time and we won, although it was childish, we were really happy that we won". Lee Kwang Soo then added "Angelababy is so pretty" to the crowd's laughter.

An episode that was filmed in Taiwan where the members rode the roller-coaster, Jee Suk Jin claimed "similar to the episode where many of us tried the bungee jump in Macau, that roller-coaster ride was the scariest thing that I have ever tried in my life". While Lee Kwang Soo and HaHa agreed that the roller-coaster ride was terrifying, both expressed that "the scariest thing is to have Kim Jong Kook in every episode, the tension and nervousness whenever we have to compete against him, especially if we are the only ones left with him" making the ride pale in comparison.

Race Start Season 2 in Singapore Running Man Fan Meeting, jointly organised by ONE and Urbanworks Media from Korea, will be held at The Star Performing Arts Centre New on Saturday, 29 Nov 2014. New episodes of Running Man premiere on Fridays at 11.45pm first and exclusively on ONE. Repeated airing will be on the following Friday at 7.40pm, as well as on Saturdays and Sundays at 11.15pm.

Special thanks to ONE for inviting KpopStarz.com to cover 'Race Start Season 2 in Singapore Running Man Fan Meeting' Press Conference.

Writer: Wang | Photo Credits: Ong Melin