Korean Drama

[bag.lover]

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(source: The Dong-A llbo January 04, 2007)
Dr. Drama



“Does my hair style look a bit strange? I wanted to look like a doctor.”

Lee Yo-won, 27, had her hair short and permed and was wearing a medical gown. I interviewed her at an examining room furnished with nothing but one bed. Lee is going to play the main character of an SBS drama titled “Surgeon Bong Dal-hee” to be aired at 9:55 p.m. on every Wednesday and Thursday starting from January 17. On January 2, I “examined” her at the set decorated like an emergency room in a studio located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi.

Lee came into the examining room with her hands deep in pockets. She said that the realistic set with hospital equipment such as bloody sheets and Ringer’s solution makes her feel like a doctor tired from night duty.

“It’s like I’ve been hospitalized since we started shooting. I have headache. A hospital is not a place to stay long,” said she with a smile.

In this drama, Bong Dal-hee is a resident physician who keeps her heart disease a secret and desires to be a specialist in children’s hearts. Like the sound of her name, she is an interesting character who makes mistakes and is called “trouble-maker” by her colleagues.

“I’m so excited to take this role. My previous melodramatic characters were always depressed and crying, so I wanted to be different this time.”

Producer Kim Hyeong-sik said, “I chose to go against people’s expectations based on Lee’s stereotyped images. After starting shooting, I found my choice was right. Lee is the very Dal-hee character who is strong and friendly.” Lee took crying-baby type characters in another SBS drama, “Fashion 70s,” and movies such as “Africa” and “When Romance Meets Destiny.”

The new drama shows Dal-hee hesitating in a three-cornered relationship with Ahn Jung-geun (Lee Beom-soo) and Lee Geon-wook (Kim Min-joon) as she becomes mature as a doctor. Lee said that teamwork is very good as the two male actors encourage each other unlike the drama’s story.

“Lee Beom-soo, a movie star, feels strange acting for a TV drama. He kept saying, ‘It’s so different from making a movie.’”

Lee learned how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation at Seoul National University Hospital. She now knows a few simple medical facts such as “double-line stethoscopes are better than single-line ones.” However, she is also worried about NGing using professional terminologies.

“I watched the U.S. medical drama, ‘Gray’s Anatomy.’ I’m only acting but it’s still hard to be a doctor.”

Lee married young and has a daughter unlike other actors. She said, “I want to be an actor who can move the audience with truth. My New Year’s wish is to succeed in my work.”

She added, “I hope that the drama makes number one among dramas aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays and that the movie ‘Splendid Holiday’ makes a hit. I wish to be blessed in my work.”

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[bag.lover]

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(source: The Dong-A llbo December 21, 2006)
Modern Love



I interviewed Chae Rim (picture), who is returning to TV after her divorce from singer Lee Seung-hwan in March, at the new drama press conference held at 63 City on December 19.

“How will I write my white paper on love? Well, it will be like you have different love with different partners.”

Thus Chae Rim summed up her view of love. She is going to play the heroine of “Dal-ja’s Springtime,” a KBS2 new drama about “a thirty three year old woman’s white paper on modern love” to be aired at 9:55 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays starting from January 3. Oh Dal-ja, her character in the drama, is a single woman in 30s who falls for Kang Tae-bong (Lee Min-ki), a younger man she met through a love contract.

As for her character looking for a man through a love agency with 3 million won, Chae Rim said, “There will be a debate, but it is already happening in reality.” Dal-ja, a home shopping channel MD, has to choose between Eom Ki-jung (Lee Hyun-woo), a marriage candidate with wealth and status, and Tae-bong, a young and energetic man.

“I think there is no unforgivable love. Love doesn’t come as you will.”

This is her first time playing a woman in 30s. With her cute girl image, she has played a character younger than she is. When I said she looks changed, she answered, “I tried to look different with thick make-up to express Dal-ja’s personality and character.”

I asked if she is concerned that people may be tired of another drama about a woman in 30s made after the success of MBC’s “My Name Is Kim Sam-soon” and “What Are You Doing, Fox?”

“Their big frames may be similar, but this is a new drama with different actors and directing. I am different from Kim Seon-a. If Sam-soon is friendly, Dal-ja is girly even in her 30s,” said she.

Chae Rim also starred in dramas made in China and Taiwan beginning with “Love of the Aegean Sea (Ching Ding Ai Chin Hai)” in 2003. Although she has not been on TV in Korea since KBS2’s “Oh! Victory Bong Soon-yeong” in 2004, she played the heroine of “Secret Legend of Kang Xi’s Dynasty (Kang Cao Bi Shi)” this year.

“A Chinese newspaper put me on the list of most popular Chinese actresses. Local fans seem to like me as one of their own actors, not as a Hallyu star.”

Chae Rim added, “I like working both in China and Korea. I want to be a friendly actor, not a foreign star, to Chinese people.”

She was smiling throughout the interview but lost her smile when asked about her divorce.

“I know people want to know what happened, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I’m doing fine. I just hope people watch my new drama with a good will.”

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[bag.lover]

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(source: KBS Global 2007-07-05)
Chinese Drama Starring Korean Actor Airs in Korea



The popular Chinese drama "If Heaven Pities," starring Korean actor Cha In-pyo, is now being aired in Korea. A Korean cable TV station specializing in Chinese programs broadcasts the 36-part mini series every Thursday and Friday.

"If Heaven Pities" ponders what true love is by portraying the heartbreaking love between an 18-year-old girl and a 36-year-old man.

Cha plays a bachelor who falls in love with the daughter of his dead friend. The female lead opposite of Cha is played by a Chinese actress who previously appeared in the joint Korean-Chinese drama "Apartment" with Ahn Jae-wook.

"If Heaven Pities" was the highest rated show on Shanghai TV, Hunan TV, and Nanjing TV.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: KBS Global 2007-07-05)
'Black House' to Open in Japan in October



The Korean thriller 'Black House,' starring veteran actor Hwang Jeong-min, will open in 250 theaters in Japan in October.

The hit film is based on a best-selling Japanese novel that has sold a million copies.

A film official says that Black House has received overwhelming praise by Japanese film people and that its release date in Japan has been set.

Its opening at some 250 cinemas is reminiscent of the opening of the Korean blockbuster 'The Host.' Such fanfare in what is considered the home country of horror films is especially meaningful.

In the movie, Hwang plays an insurance surveyor who looks into a murder case that the police have confirmed as a suicide. The story revolves around his struggle with a psychopath whom he encounters on the crime site.

In Korea, Black House led all horror movies in number of theater screenings and maintained the number one box office position for eight weeks.

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[bag.lover]

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(source: The Korea Times 2007-07-05)
'Cut' Dissects Horror With Dramatic Edge


A claustrophobic scene from "The Cut," where a group of medical students are doomed to die after laying their scalpels upon a mysterious cadaver.

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

In a medical school lab, a dissection session goes terribly off course, with misused surgical knives (scalpels) and of course, an "undead" cadaver.

But "The Cut" is no zombie movie. Rather, it intricately dissects human fear and fascination with the dead, with hints of necrophilia looming over the blood-tainted story that blends Western medical practice with the Eastern concept of the undying, grudge-ridden soul.

Six medical students __ soulful Seon-hwa, arrogant Jung-seok, warmhearted Gi-beom, bookworm Eun-ju, goofy Kyeong-min and sexy Ji-yeong __ begin the long-anticipated anatomy course. The highly competitive yet close group of friends is presented with a cadaver of a young woman who was once beautiful, with a rose tattoo on her chest.

Yet ever since beginning the lesson, they are all haunted by the same nightmares and hallucinations __ a weeping woman and a doctor with a lame leg, whispering death.

One night, Eun-ju is trapped alone in the dissection lab. She screams for her life, but is rescued too late as she lays lifeless and heartless __ literally having had the organ surgically removed.

After Ji-yeon dies the same way and other horrible events ensue, Seon-hwa, Jung-seok and Gi-beom are convinced they are next. Everything points to the cadaver: while tracing the woman's past, the students discover that their professor, nicknamed ``the technician'' for his exceptional skills and coldness, is linked to the mystery and Seon-hwa must revisit her own secrets.

The director wished to "present horror blended with suspense and surprise, rather than horror for horror's sake," and the film escapes the predictable trap of gory cadavers. Instead, it offers suspense in the tradition of films like the "Scream" trilogy (1996-2000), marked by a series of inevitable deaths.

All six students are doomed to die in the same place in the same fashion: screeching noises and mournful cries signal death. However, the film retains an inherently Asian characteristic, with vengeful souls that evoke sympathy rather than being purely evil.

The film takes an unexpected turn and melodrama outweighs suspense toward the end. Horror manias may complain, but Korea's first ever cadaver dummy should be engrossing.

The audience becomes a cadaver as the camera rolls the viewpoint of a corpse, from being immersed in formalin to being stored in the freezer. The work also presents haunting images of bloody red rose petals falling from the sky, and the juxtaposition of youthful beauty with the dark shadows of death is striking.

Though "The Cut" is slightly flawed with caricature-esque characters repeating "I've waited all my life to hold the scalpel," it is worth noting the intriguing performance by young talent Han Ji-min (Seon-hwa).

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[bag.lover]

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(source: BROasia 2007-07-05)
"I Am Really Oh Ji Ho" - Special Disguise As A Fat Man in SBS, "Oh Sujung"



After Kim Ah Joong disguised herself in the movie, "200 lb Beauty," Oh Ji Ho is taking on the disguise as a fat man.

SBS "Oh Sujung" is the next drama to be aired after "Bad Couple," starting on the 28th. The male lead character played by Oh Ji Ho had to wear a special disguise to act as an unattractive man.

On June 30th, Oh Ji Ho went to the office of a special effects makeup team, CELL, to do a special effects makeup test for the role of fat and unattractive Mansu in "Oh Sujung." The result of the two-hour long makeover produced a fat man who seemed totally unlike the former Oh Ji Ho.

"Oh Sujung" is a drama about Oh Sujung who chooses to marry a partner solely based on their wealth and background, and when the unattractice Mansu fails his law entrance examination, she dumps him on the day of their wedding.

Mansu gets traumatized by this and sets on a path of revenge to transform himself, and after succeeding in America by eight years of dieting and exercise, he becomes a professional golfer who exceeds Tiger Woods in terms of wealth and looks.

The fat version of Oh Ji Ho will be shown in episodes one, two and three.

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[bag.lover]

(source: innolife)
According to AGB Nielson, the 16th and final episode of SBS drama "War of Money" (aired on July 5th) recorded 36.5% rating (nationwide). The finale was not only this drama's highest rated episode, it beat other dramas that were aired on the same time slot (Wednesday/Thursday 9:55pm) by a landslide; MBC's "Me Ri, Dae Gu's Attack And Defense Battle" got 3.9% while KBS2TV's "Capital Scandal" got 6.9%. Ever since its debut on May 16th, "War of Money" retained the #1 position for its time slot.

For the next 2 weeks, "War of Money" Bonus Round will be aired.

[bag.lover]

Louis Vuitton Seoul 2007 (July 5th)

(source: YAHOO! KOREA)

[bag.lover]

(source: chosun Online)
Son Ye Jin
Birthdate: January 11, 1982
Height: 165cm (5'5")
Weight: 45kg (99lbs)
Movies: Art of Seduction (2006), April Snow (2005), A Moment to Remember (2004), Crazy First Love (2003), The Classic (2003), Lover's Concerto (2002), ...
Dramas: Alone in Love (SBS, 2006), Summer Scent (KBS, 2003), Dae Mang (SBS, 2002), Sun-hee & Jin-hee (MBC, 2001), Delicious Proposal (MBC, 2001)

[MAGs]

OMG!!! So I'm not the only one obssessed about Korean Drama

I finished watchingLovers in Paris last week. It's the most romantic thing ever English may be a bit faulty but who cares?! I enjoyed it so much! I'm going gaga over getting more DVDs.. Has anyone tried yesasia.com? I see they have alot in stock. I just want to make sure I'm getting a good deal. Those suckers can be a bit pricey... Priced from 60 bucks up!

[bag.lover]

(source: chosun Online)
Kwon Sang Woo
Birthdate: August 5th, 1976
Height: 183 cm (6 ft)
Weight: 70kg (154 lbs)
Education: HanNam University (Fine Arts Education major)
Movies: A Destiny (2007), Almost Love (2006), Running Wild (2005), Love So Divine (2004), One Upon a Time in High School (2004), My Tutor Friend (2003), Project X (2003), Make It Big (2002), Volcano High (2001)
TV Series: Bad Love (2007), Sad Love Story (MBC, 2005), Stairway to Heaven (SBS, 2003/2004), Into the Sun (SBS, 2003), We're Dating Now (SBS, 2002), Legend (SBS, 2001), Man and Woman (SBS, 2001), Delicious Proposal (MBC, 2000)




(source: YAHOO! KOREA Newsen)

[bag.lover]

(source: YAHOO! KOREA)

Song Yoon Ah (Hotelier's Seo Jin Young)

[Arisu]

My favorites are My Girl, Dae Jang Guem, and Princess Hours or aka Goong!

I'm currently watching Hello! Baby too and it's pretty enjoyable. I prefer the love comedies over the super sad ones ><

[bag.lover]

(source: chosun Online, YAHOO! KOREA)
Yoon Eun Hye
Birthdate: October 3, 1984
Height: 168cm (5'6")
Weight: 50kg (110lbs)
Dramas: The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince (MBC, 2007), The Vineyard Man (KBS2, 2006), Princess Hours (MBC, 2006)

[bag.lover]

Originally Posted by MAGs

I finished watchingLovers in Paris last week. It's the most romantic thing ever English may be a bit faulty but who cares?! I enjoyed it so much! I'm going gaga over getting more DVDs.. Has anyone tried yesasia.com? I see they have alot in stock. I just want to make sure I'm getting a good deal. Those suckers can be a bit pricey... Priced from 60 bucks up!

Hi MAGs, I enjoyed watching Lovers in Paris too. =)

Are you looking for English subtitled dramas? I did some readings on various forums about this topic, here's a very good thread:
Thread on Kdramas on Dvd Release - Ya Entertainment, Kbs, Bitwin, Etc
http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1875

YesAsia is one of the online retailers, they sell DVDs from various companies. I ordered from them before; their prices are generally okay, I sometimes find DVDs for less from other stores.

The qualities of the english subtitles are dependent on the companies that release them. When you check out these DVD sets, pay attention to the production company that provides the subtitles.

1. YA Entertainment (exclusive licensee of K-dramas in NAmerica) - good subtitles
http://www.yaentertainment.com/index.html
2. BitWin - good subtitles
3. KBS produced dramas - usually pretty good subtitles
4. SBS produced dramas - the subs are generally bad. Those considered okay are "Only You", "All In", "Lovers in Paris".

Online retailers
http://us.yesasia.com/
http://www.annyoung.com/
http://www.dvdasian.com/
http://www.kbs-america.com/
http://www.dvdfromkorea.com/
http://dvdheaven.com/
http://www.aladdin.co.kr/home/start.aspx

Wouldn't it be nice if these sets are less expensive? =)