Another remake of an old kdrama is in the works, this time the 1996 series that brought Bae Yong-joon to fame, First Love. The new drama will be a joint Korea-China production, and adapt the story for Chinese audiences.

This is the first time a project of this nature is being done, with Chinese actors and Korean production (to be aired and distributed in China). As such, one rep expressed his hopes that this marks a new type of cultural interchange between the two countries.

This Chinese version of First Love will star top Chinese stars — the role originally played by Bae Yong-joon is set to be filled by Huang Xiaoming, while Choi Su-jong’s spot goes to an actor identified only as “Chen” (I can’t figure out which Chen this refers to, sorry! Chen Kun, perhaps?). In the original kdrama, Choi and Bae played brothers who fell for the same woman (Lee Seung-yeon). The wildly popular series also featured brief appearances by several budding actors who would later come into their own as Hallyu stars, such as Choi Ji-woo and Song Hye-gyo.

Via Segye

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Post tags: Bae Yong-joon, Choi Su-jong, remakes

Stars came out on November 1 to the 2008 Korea Drama Awards in the South Gyeongsang province city of Jinju, although there were a few notable absences (Bae Yong-joon, Kim Rae-won).

The top winner of the night was Kim Myung-min for his portrayal of Maestro Kang (affectionately, Kang-mae) in currently running hit drama Beethoven Virus. Kim Myung-min rocks, so this is no surprise and is certainly deserved. (Also, whether you love or hate Beethoven Virus, we can probably agree that he is the best thing in it.)

In the next “tier” of acting awards below Kim’s Daesang were the Best Acting award winners, consistently solid sageuk actor Choi Su-jong for Dae Jo Young and Kim Haneul for playing a difficult actress in On Air. In the next tier for Acting Excellence were Kim Rae-won of Gourmet and Han Ji-hye for Likable or Not (who may pull in yet more awards this time next year for her performance in East of Eden).

Musical acts included performances by R&B ballad duo Fly To the Sky, balladeer Shin Hye-sung, and members of idol group Super Junior.

SONG OF THE DAY

Fly to the Sky – “혼자하는 약속” (A promise with myself) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Awards ceremony at Korea Drama Festival 2008 (684 words)

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Post tags: awards, Bae Yong-joon, Choi Su-jong, Han Ji-hye, Kim Bum, Kim Haneul, Kim Myung-min, Kim Rae-won, Lee Jin, Park Min-young, Shim Eun-kyung

Lame, lame, lame. I’d kind of figured that the newish Seoul Drama Awards would be bland (it’s their third year) based on the voting and nominees, so the results weren’t as disappointing as they would have been if I’d taken the Seoul Drama Festival seriously. As it was, there was a total lack of drama.

First off, the actual awards themselves were kind of… wonky. With dramas from all over the world competing (33 countries, 152 entries), the actual Korean series entered for judging (and which advanced) were hardly Korea’s best work of the past year.

Secondly, and perhaps for the above reason, there was a serious absence of stars — aside from the ones who were either presenting or receiving awards, that is. I wouldn’t call the red carpet and pre-carpet events “beyond pitiful” as one paper did, but when the only way to get actors to come to your event is to bribe them, you know you’ve still got a road ahead to being taken seriously.

I can understand awarding the online popularity award to Nam Sang-mi (adorable) and Lee Junki, above, both of the thriller drama Time and Dog and Wolf. But Golden Bride? Jungle Fish? Erm……

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Read the rest of No drama at the 2008 Seoul Drama Awards (557 words)

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Post tags: awards, Choi Su-jong, Eugene, Kim Sung-soo, Lee Junki, Lee Tae-ran, Lee Young-ah, Nam Sang-mi, Oh Man-seok, Time of Dog and Wolf

Nominees are out for the 2008 Korea Drama Festival awards, and the list is rather ho-hum. For example, the nominees for Best Drama are: Legend (MBC), Mom’s Dead Upset (KBS), Dae Jo Young (KBS), and Gourmet (SBS).

At first I was disappointed in the list of nominees, but then I thought back to the year and realized it’s just been a ho-hum year for dramas overall. Although, if we’re nominating Legend for Best Drama, which premiered over a year ago in September 2007, surely there are other series that have been overlooked.

The Korean Drama Festival runs from November 1 through 5 in Jinju; see the nominee list beyond the jump.

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Read the rest of Nominees for the 2008 Korea Drama Festival Awards (315 words)

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Post tags: awards, Beethoven Virus, Choi Su-jong, City of Glass, East of Eden, Han Ji-hye, Hong Gil Dong, Jang Geun-seok, Kim Bum, Kim Haneul, Kim Myung-min, Lee Jin-wook, Legend, New Heart, On Air, Sung Yuri, You're My Destiny

Stars came out in full force, from A-listers and all the way down, to the opening night of the 2nd Chungmuro International Film Festival, held on September 3. The celeb list boasted some big-name actors and even a few kpoppers (Girls Generation) who turned out in fine feather on the red carpet. (Well, minus a few sartorial misses.)

Attendees included the likes of Chae Rim (above), Jang Dong-gun (below), and event representative Kim Jung-eun, for starters.

The festival, headed under the theme “Discovery, Restoration, Creation,” runs over the next week and closes on September 9.

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Read the rest of 2nd Chungmuro International Film Festival (524 words)

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Post tags: Chae Rim, Choi Su-jong, Eom Ji-won, Eugene, fashion, film festivals, Girls Generation, Ha Ji-won, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Min-joon, Lee Hana, Lee Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-hyuk, Lee Mi-yeon, Shin Ae, Shin Hyun-joon, Yoon So-yi

Summer is the season for chilly gothic and horror entertainment, so KBS takes the post-Women in the Sun time slot to launch its new horror series, Hometown of Legends, as its Wednesday-Thursday programming for the month of August.

Or, should I say, new OLD series. There was an earlier version that aired in the late ’90s, which had approximately 70 episodes. (I think there may have been another version in the 1980s, but I don’t know that for sure.) The stories spanned different topics (with some overlaps) but was based on the same conceit. A film of the same name — albeit translated into English as The Evil Twin — was also released in 2007 and featured Park Shin-hye and Jae Hee, the latter of whom also appears in this new series.

What sets this drama apart from others is in the episodic, anthology nature of the storytelling. Each episode is written and directed by a different team, and stars different actors in its installments. Think of it as fusion sageuk meets the Twilight Zone, or a collection of old ghost tales.

Hometown of Legends kicks off with the first episode today, “Nine-tailed Fox,” followed by others bearing titles like “Curse of the Sajin Sword” and “Demon’s Story.”

SONG OF THE DAY

Green Cheese – “Black Bird Dies” [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Hometown of Legends / Legendary Hometown (1,525 words)

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Post tags: Choi Su-jong, fusion dramas, Hometown of Legends, Jae Hee, Lee Jin, Lee Jung, Park Min-young, Sa Kang