By Jonathan M. Hicap
Korea Times Correspondent
Even before K-pop, Filipinos were long fans of imported dramas.
Soap operas and drama series have become a staple for daytime and primetime viewing in the Philippines.
In the 1990s, Mexican telenovelas became the mania, with huge hits like "Rosalinda" and "Marimar" attracting ratings above 50 percent.
Asian dramas, including Korean, have become hits in the 2000s.
The huge demand from viewers for Asian telenovelas has prompted Philippine TV stations to import Korean and Taiwanese dramas.
Top Korean drama series (locally called "Koreanovelas") like "
Lovers in Paris", "
Full House", "
My Name is Kim Sam-soon", "
Stairway to Heaven" and "
Coffee Prince" were imported and dubbed in Filipino, instantly becoming hits.
The success of "
Dae Jang Geum" (or "Jewel in the Palace") in Korea was also replicated in the Philippines and many other Asian countries.
The Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden" was also a ratings success when it aired years ago.
Its remake, the Korean "
Boys over Flowers" starring
Lee Min-ho,
Kim Hyun-joong,
Kim Beom,
Kim Jun and actress
Koo Hye-seon, also succeeded in capturing audiences. It was aired in the Philippines on ABS-CBN from May to August and became a phenomenal success.
"It is the phenome...
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Lee Dong-wook has entered the military service boot camp for 5 weeks for beginner's training. He has entered today and will be serving the country for two years.
Recently he has been in the drama "The Partner" and the movie "Doenjang" which are finished.
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By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Supporting actors appearing in local dramas have begun unleashing their charms, and more viewers are starting to recognize their presence.
MBC's hit drama "
Queen Seon-deok" boasts a lineup of interesting characters surrounding the main character, Deok-man, played by
Lee Yo-won, who later becomes the first queen in Korea's history.
Lee is not the only actress enjoying the spotlight, as many viewers have taken notice of the villain, Mi-shil, played by
Ko Hyeon-jeong.
Mi-shil dreams of becoming queen, but fails when Seondoek makes a splash in political circles. Ko, who is well known for her sweet and tender roles, has successfully transformed herself into the ambitious Mi-shil, who tries to scheme and threaten her way to the throne.
MBC explained before the drama's airing that Ko was originally offered the role of Seondeok, but she actually chose to take the part of the femme fatale after reading the script.
"I thought acting a very clear character would be better for me. I'm breaking out of my original roles, which were balanced and had a certain rhythm. I will do my best not to lose the viewers' attention", Ko said at a press confer...
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By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Which will it be _ teenage love and friendship, or the real, yet humorous lives of ruthless lawyers? Television fans will now have the chance to explore the two different worlds with the new dramas "Friends, Our Story" on MBC and
"The Partner" on KBS2.
With heartthrobs
Hyeon Bin and
Kim Min-joon as the attractive, yet troubled protagonists, "Friends, Our Story" is the drama version of the mega-hit film
"Friend" (2001). The sequel will offer the same dramatic plots revolving around teenage friends and move on to their love lives and other untold stories that were absent in the movie. In the film, top Korean actor
Jang Dong-gun played the part of
Hyeon Bin, and
Yoo Oh-seong appeared as Kim.
The movie-turned-drama was made possible after
Kwak Gyeong-taek, the director of the film and now the drama, decided to bring the popular plot back, this time to television screens.
"While I was thi...
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The KBS2 drama "
The Accidental Couple" aired its final 16th episode on June 18, which saw a happy ending where Han Ji-soo (
Kim Ah-joong) and Gu Dong-baek (
Hwang Jeong-min) married for real.
Dong-baek asked Ji-soo to end their contract marriage and divorce him, but Ji-soo said, crying, that she did not want a divorce. He told her, "I was dishonest. Now that I have really gotten to love you, divorce will not be an end but a new beginning. I want to divorce you so that I can start all over again with you. I want to be your real lover".
Dong-baek was subjected to criticis...
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