(tvN, BtoB)

BTOB’s Yook Sung-jae keeps a special place in his heart for the Philippines.

Sung-jae visited Manila to meet up with Filipino fans on July 13 in a much-anticipated event that was arranged by two local companies, the video streaming platform Viu Philippines and the telecommunications company Globe.

(tvN)

Besides being a member of the boy band BTOB, short for Born to Beat, Sung-jae is a rising actor most recognized for his role in the 2016-2017 hit TV series “Goblin.”

This isn’t the first time the singer-actor has visited the Philippines, as he has performed with BTOB in the country four times.

Here are three heartfelt moments from the meetup in July.

1. Yook Sung-jae learns (or tries to learn) Tagalog, and even Visayan for fans

(Naver's V Live)

Sung-jae’s effort to be closer to local “Melodies (BTOB fans)” shone in particular with his greetings in Filipino, one of which rang deeply with fans: “Sama-sama tayo palagi (We will always be together).”

(Naver's V Live)

The 23-year-old said he studied the multilingual archipelago’s official language of Tagalog but also picked up a few phrases in the Visayan dialect to better communicate with Filipino fans.

2. His bond with the Philippines dates years back

(Naver's V Live)

Sung-jae keeps a special place in his heart for the Philippines, he said, and his bond with the country dates years back when he stayed in Cebu briefly to study English.

He kicked off the event by singing the 2017 self-composed ballad “Paradise.” For the drama’s fans, Yook also sang “Beautiful,” the best-known soundtrack from “Goblin,” originally sung by Crush.

3. He can’t wait to be back in the Philippines

(Naver's V Live)

“To be honest, I didn’t know BTOB and I were so loved here. Today has been an invaluable day for me and I will be back with the rest of BTOB to make up for all the love,” said the group’s youngest in his interview after the meet-up, expressing his wish to be back with fans.

Naver’s real-time broadcasting app V allows fans to interact with their favorite K-pop stars through live broadcasts. The app is available for Android and iOS. For more information, visit http://www.vlive.tv.

By The Korea Herald (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

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