Dramabeans » Go Du-shim http://www.dramabeans.com Deconstructing korean dramas and kpop culture Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:44:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Lee Mi-yeon returns to television with Man-deok http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/12/lee-mi-yeon-returns-to-television-with-man-deok/ http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/12/lee-mi-yeon-returns-to-television-with-man-deok/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:03:11 +0000 javabeans http://www.dramabeans.com/?p=13460

This is news that had been floating around for a while (and denied, then floated again), but now it’s confirmed: Lee Mi-yeon is making her drama comeback — eight years after her last sageuk Empress Myung Sung — in another historical epic, Merchant Kim Man-deok.

The drama is based on a real-life woman from the Joseon era who became a great merchant, then donated everything to save the poor. Lee takes the title role, along with a solid supporting cast that includes Go Du-shim (Good Morning President), Kim Byung-ki (Iron Empress), and Kim Gab-soo in a very busy year (he’s also slated for Jejoongwon and Chuno). Go Du-shim notably played the Man-deok character thirty years ago, in MBC’s 1976 drama Jung-hwa.

Merchant Kim Man-deok will air beginning March 2010. For more background about Kim, here’s a description from The Korea Times:

Records are few on Kim Man-deok, a Joseon Kingdom female merchant, who embodied the virtue of a true, noble merchant. She was born in 1739 on Jeju Island and became a gisaeng (female entertainer) employed by the state after losing her parents at a very early age and later turned herself to a successful merchant and philanthropist.

Kim was good at selling the principal products of the island and running other businesses with woman divers, handicraftsmen and farmers. Her ability as a merchant seemed to be impossible at that time, given the fact that during the Joseon era, Jeju Island was so remote and thought of as a place of exile and Jeju inhabitants could hardly travel to the mainland. But she built up her assets from lucrative businesses there and escaped her status of a gisaeng belonging to the state.

When famine gripped the island, she donated all her assets to the residents, saving 18,000 lives.

Via Newsen

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]]> http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/12/lee-mi-yeon-returns-to-television-with-man-deok/feed/ 13 Good Morning President sells out at PIFF in 1 minute http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/09/good-morning-president-sells-out-at-piff-in-1-minute/ http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/09/good-morning-president-sells-out-at-piff-in-1-minute/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:27:30 +0000 javabeans http://www.dramabeans.com/?p=10768

Technically, 1 minute and 35 seconds.

Such is the box office draw of one of Korea’s favorite actors, Jang Dong-gun. The warm and humorous Good Morning President is his first film in several years, and Korean audiences are eager to see Jang back onscreen, as he has been out of the Hallyu spotlight to pursue Hollywood interests (The Warrior’s Way is still forthcoming). Thus they’ve leapt at the chance to get their first glimpse of his latest role when President opens October’s Pusan International Film Festival.

Sure, he only plays one of three presidents in the movie (with Lee Soon-jae, Go Du-shim) and stars opposite glamorous Han Chae-young, but really, the pull is all about Jang Dong-gun.

Tickets went on sale at 5pm on September 21, and according to a rep at PIFF, they sold out completely in the first minute and 35 seconds. This follows a similar response to last year’s PIFF opener, Gift to Stalin, which also sold out in under 2 minutes. Some previous fast sellers include The Coast Guard (which also starred Jang Dong-gun and sold out in 2 min 4 sec) in 2002, The Last Witness (2 min 28 sec) in 2001, and Traces of Love (2 min 45 sec) in 2006. President is therefore the fastest-selling Korean film at PIFF, which seems to me a strange statistic to keep track of, but oh well.

Via Joy News

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]]> http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/09/good-morning-president-sells-out-at-piff-in-1-minute/feed/ 9 Good morning, three presidents http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/09/good-morning-three-presidents/ http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/09/good-morning-three-presidents/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:40:16 +0000 javabeans http://www.dramabeans.com/?p=10347

The first posters are out of Jang Dong-gun’s latest movie, Good Morning President [굿모닝 프레지던트], which features him as one of three presidents along with Lee Soon-jae and Go Du-shim.

Each presidential figure is noteworthy in his/her own way: Jang Dong-gun’s character is a handsome and single president (Han Chae-young plays his love interest), and his tagline reads, “Thanks to the president, the ratings for the 9 o’clock news are skyrocketing.”

(...)
Read the rest of Good morning, three presidents (175 words)

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