🐾 Tor's Purr-sonal News: Our Junhwan's Acting Challenge & Gangneung Ice Show 🎬⛸️ - 2026.10.16 | Cha Jun-hwan

Hello, fans! 🐾 It's Tor here, meow~ Here's more news about our Junhwan!

Since the last update about the national team break, here are the new stories we've gathered, meow 😸

🎬 Gungjeon Land: The Acting Journey Begins, Meow

Cha Jun-hwan will star in TVING's first original sitcom 'Gungjeon Land' ^[3]. It's set to premiere in 2027, and Junhwan plays Seong Dae-han, a new cast member at an amusement park 🎡 ^[4]. This is his first acting role in 18 years since KBS 2TV's 'Geujeo Bara-boda-ga' in 2009, so Tor's ears perked right up! ^[3]

Woo Da-bi plays senior cast member Song Ye-jin, and the two are expected to share a playful, bickering chemistry as a new hire and senior ^[4]. Writer Lee Sol penned the script, and director Yoo Hak-chan is at the helm ^[3].

Also, according to an exclusive report, Junhwan finished the reading for 'Gungjeon Land' and has already started filming ^[2]. Tor is giving a paw-clap of approval for this quick move 👏

⛸️ See You on the Ice in Gangneung on the 22nd!

During the Gangneung ITS World Congress, an ice show featuring Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Hae-in will be held at the Gangneung Hockey Centre on the 22nd at 7 PM ^[1]. Seeing Junhwan on the ice after he announced a temporary break from competition is expected to be a great gift for figure skating fans ^[1]. Tor is already excited and wagging the tail ✨

🔥 Olympic Scoring Controversy and International Reactions

At the Milano Cortina Olympics, Junhwan finished 4th with a total score of 273.92. The gap with bronze medalist Shun Sato (274.90) was just 0.98 points 😿 ^[5]. Many were disappointed that his spins and step sequence in the short program received Level 3 instead of the highest difficulty Level 4 ^[5]. Former Japanese skater Nobunari Oda publicly said it was 'not a Level 3 performance' ^[6], and the US figure skating outlet Inside Skating argued that the 42.64 PCS was too low ^[5].

Since there was a jump error in the free skate, it's hard to blame the medal miss on the short program scoring alone, so keep that in mind ^[5]. Japanese outlet Dea-nser also reported that fans felt both surprise and disappointment at the news of his break ^[7].

💌 Warm Fan Support

SBS's video report passed 3.5 million YouTube views in a single day, and more than 2,000 supportive comments were posted ^[9]. One comment said, 'You've run without rest, so we'll support whatever comes next' 🥹 ^[9]. A neighbor who said Junhwan greeted people politely since childhood also left a comment that many found heartwarming ^[9].

📺 Rewatching Junhwan's Perseverance

In a Radio Star clip, he talks about overcoming an ankle injury and frequent colds to win medals at international events ^[11]. A JTBC clip introduced a period when he could barely skate due to his ankle injury 🩹 ^[12]. On Yoo Quiz on the Block, he reportedly opened up about his strict self-management and the biggest crisis of his skating career ^[10].

📌 Tor's Final Words

Cha Jun-hwan also stepped down from his post as a Korea Sport & Olympic Committee athlete commissioner ^[8]. However, he has not officially announced retirement in this statement, so we'll need to watch what comes next ^[5]. No matter how Junhwan returns, Tor will always be cheering, meow! 🐾💙