From "Winter Sonata" to "Jewel in the Palace" (Dae Jang Geum) Korean dramas have fans across Asia.
Korean stars who appear in these TV series are also gaining wider popularity and in neighboring Japan some of them are landing contracts to appear in local productions.
Chang Yeo-jeong has this story.
Japan's beloved Korean actress Choi Ji-woo stars in this Japanese drama "Rondo."
The average TV rating for its first episode on Sunday reached 20 percent.
In Japan anything over an average TV rating of 15 percent is considered "a hit" drama.
This ambitious TV series produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System marking its 50th anniversary is the talk of the town.
Streets of Tokyo are now plastered with posters of Choi together with her co-lead actor Yutaka Takenouchi.
This is Choi's first appearance in a Japanese drama.
Choi came to fame in Japan through "Winter Sonata" a Korean soap opera that generated a buzz across Asia for Korea and Korean stars.
The drama that has Choi coming to Japan looking for her long-lost father stars two other Korean celebrities.
Singer-cum-actor Lee Jeong-hyeon appears as Choi's sister and actor Shin Hyeon-joon finds himself entangled in a love triangle with Choi and Takenouchi.
With the 11-series-drama set to also air in nine other Asian countries critics forecast the production will rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.
Chang Yeo-jeong, Arirang News.
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