The stars were out in droves for producer
Yoon Seok-ho's wedding last Sunday.
The cathedral in Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul, where the wedding was held, was packed with stars who came to congratulate Yoon, 52, who tied the knot with Han Hye-soo, 39, a hanbok designer.
Yoon has produced many popular TV dramas, including "
Winter Sonata", "
Autumn in my Heart" and "
Summer Scent".
Yoon joined KBS in 1985 and is currently managing his own drama company, Yoon's Color.
Some 200 fans from all over Asia - mostly from Japan - showed up at the wedding venue for a glim...
MoreBy Yasmin Lee G Arpon
Deputy Editor of the Asia News Network
'Koreanovelas' Fever is sweeping the Philippines
In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the second in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
The names Johnny, Jenny and Andrew may not ring a bell for Koreans, but for Filipinos, they started the so-called Korean Wave in the Philippines. They were the "Filipinized" names of the main characters in the drama "
Autumn in my Heart", better known as "Endless Love 1" when it was shown in the Philippines. It was the first-ever Korean drama to air in the country.
In 2002, the Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden" swept through the Philippines and the rest of Asia, paving the way for Chinese dramas to enter local markets. The drama was aired on the ABS-CBN network, one of the Philippines` largest broadcasting companies. More Taiwanese dramas soon followed, heralding the start of the "Chinovelas" (Chinese + novelas, a word derived from the Spanish "novela") fever. Facing the risk of saturating televiewers` interest, the network's rival, GMA-7 looked elsewhere and took a chance on Korean dramas.
As with what ABS-CBN did to "Meteor Garden", GMA-7 translated and dubbed "Autumn Story" into Tagalog to give it a local flavor. It also changed the characters` names to make them easier for Filipinos who may find it difficult to remember, much less pronounce, complicated Korean names.
So the character of Yun Joon-suh (played by
Song Seung-heon) became known as Johnny Yun; Choi Eun-suh (
Song Hye-kyo) was Jenny Choi; and Han Tae-suk (
Won Bin) was Andrew Han. In late 2003, "
Autumn in my Heart" aired locally and is credited with having started the "Koreanovela" phenomenon in the Philippines. The drama has been re-aired twice since then and continued to receive high viewership numbers.
Nina Angeles was one of those who got hooked on the drama. She cited the interesting storyline and the good-looking actors as her reason for watching the drama. "Also, the scenery was very beautiful. Korea looked so beautiful, especially in autumn", she says.
Like Nina, many other Filipino fans began to take interest in Korean movies, as well. She recalls the first time she saw the VCD of "
My Sassy Girl" in her brother's bedroom, and thought that it was a porn movie. "
My Sassy Girl" was the first Korean film she watched and all the rest followed.
From watching Korean dramas and movies, it was inevitable that fans would take an interest in the country's culture, food and fashion. When, at the height of "Meteor Garden", people were signing up for Mandarin classes, now there was a sudden demand for Korean-language classes and "noraebang" or KTVs became a favorite hangout for fans who wanted to sing along to Korean pop songs.
And so, from Korean dramas and films, it was a natural progression to music, as in Nina's case. A self-confessed "rocker girl" who liked listening to Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Black Crowes and Nirvana, she was nevertheless surprised at her sudden interest in Korean pop culture. "I was attracted to K-pop because it was different from the rock scene in the United States and the Philippines. It sounded a lot like American pop music but in a different language and had an Asian ...
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He produced "Autumn in my Heart" and "Winter Sonata" which were great hits and still are one of many viewer's favorite dramas of all time.
