Tom Cruise to become honorary Busan citizen

Hollywood star Tom Cruise will become an honorary citizen of Busan.

Busan Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it was scheduled to grant an honorary Busan citizenship to Cruise on Thursday when he visits the city to promote murder mystery thriller “Jack Reacher.”

Rosamund Pike, Cruise’s co-star in Jack Reacher, and its director Christopher McQuarrie will also receive Busan citizenship.

Cruise will pay his sixth visit to Korea, the most frequent for a foreign actor. For Pike and McQuarrie, it will be their first trip to Korea. Cruise, Pike and McQuarrie will attend a red carpet premiere at Busan Cinema Center, Thursday.

Mayor Hur Nam-sik will award Busan citizenship certificates to them personally on the red carpet at the center.

Many foreign actors and actresses have visited Korea’s second-largest city for the annual Busan International Film Festival, but Cruise will be the first Hollywood star to hold the premiere of his latest flick, which is also his first film of the year, in Busan.

”We expect their visit to help enhance the international status of Busan as an Asian hub of cinema and promote the city as well,” a Busan official said.

Cruise plays Jack Reacher, an ex-army investigator who tries to help solve a sniper shooting in which a man seems to have been framed.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)