The basic premise of I Love You Ten Million Times [천만번 사랑해, also translated less literally to Loving You a Thousand Times] caught my interest because it seems to be full of dramatic possibilities: a young woman becomes a surrogate for a childless couple, then marries into that family.

With more information coming out (and the teaser poster, above, featuring surrogate Lee Soo-kyung and her husband Jung Kyeo-woon), however, I’m thinking this drama may not be for me — it sounds awfully “makjang.” That is to say: chock-full of potential histrionics. Money problems for the main character, in-law clashes, illegitimate children, hateful stepmothers, extramarital affairs.

As the main character, Lee Soo-kyung plays a woman preparing to take the exam to become a teacher, whose family is poor because her father suffers an illness. She takes the surrogate position to a childless couple because of the money, while the husband in that couple (Ryu Jin) cheats on his wife with someone at work (Lee Shi-young). And her future husband (Jung Kyeo-woon) is Ryu Jin’s younger brother, but was born out of wedlock and suffers his (step-)mother’s hate, which he accepts with understanding. Thus there’s brotherly tension as well, because the mother insists on leaving the sole inheritance to her son, which puts even more pressure on Ryu Jin as the eldest to have a child. Hence the surrogacy. Super Junior’s Heechul and ex-Sugar member Park Su-jin have also been cast, but it appears their roles are outside of the main family.

Through dramas like Golden Age of the Daughter-in-Law, Lawyers of Korea, and Soulmate, Lee Soo-kyung has a bright, innocent image from comedy-infused roles, which she says will completely change for this drama. Because her previous image was so strong with viewers, she explained that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to pull off such a turnaround, but we’ll soon see.

I Love You Ten Million Times takes Can Anyone Love’s place and airs on SBS weekends, beginning August 29.

Via Asia Economy

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Lee Shi-young, Kim Heechul

I Love You Ten Million Times [천만번 사랑해] is a new SBS weekend drama whose main cast has already been filled by Lee Soo-kyung, Ryu Jin, and Jung Kyeo-woon. I’d noted the interesting-sounding plot when the drama was first announced; it deals with surrogacy and the complications that arise when the surrogate ends up marrying into the family of the infertile couple she is helping out.

Adding some color to the younger supporting cast are Super Junior’s resident oddball Kim Heechul and Boys Before Flowers‘ Lee Shi-young (both of whom are known for their rather offbeat “fourth-dimensional” personalities). Heechul plays a cheerful, saucy character who works a part-time job at a restaurant. He has a romantic storyline with Park Su-jin (mehhh), the singer-turned-actress who played Kim Bum’s ex-girlfriend in Boys Before Flowers.

Meanwhile, Lee Shi-young plays a woman who works at the information desk at the same office as Ryu Jin. She harbors a crush on him, while he is attempting to have a child with his wife (Go Eun-mi) via surrogate (Lee Soo-kyung); the story hints at a possible affair between him and Lee Shi-young.

I’m hesitant about the story (though I like that it’s different), but I like all the actors involved (minus Park Su-jin). Lee Shi-young was much better than expected in BBF, while Heechul has a fair amount of acting experience; his last drama was Golden Bride, and he was quite sweet in Bad Family.

Via Asia Today, Asia Economy

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Ryu Jin, Lee Soo-kyung, Jung Kyeo-woon

Teaming up for a new SBS weekend drama are actors Ryu Jin (Mom’s Dead Upset, Capital Scandal), Lee Soo-kyung (Romantic Island, Soulmate), and Jung Kyeo-woon (Again My Love, Women in the Sun), who will play out their complicated family relationships in I Love You Ten Million Times [천만번 사랑해]. That’s the literal translation of the title; the meaning is a little more poetic, as in, “A million times, I love you” or “I love you a ton.”

You may call Korean dramas cliché-ridden, but sometimes they’ll throw in a new twist: the story focuses on an infertile couple under familial pressure to procreate, who bring in a surrogate mother. Ryu Jin and Go Eun-mi (Pure 19) are the married couple, and Lee Soo-kyung plays the self-sacrificing but plucky surrogate — who then marries Ryu Jin’s warm and protective younger brother, played by Jung Kyeo-woon. Thus begins the brotherly conflict.

Writing the drama is Kim Sa-kyung, who also wrote the KBS daily series Likable or Not. It will air in September following the current series, Can Anyone Love.

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-kyung has taken on vocal training lessons as she prepares for this role — not because she is setting her sights on a singing career, but in order to give her voice more depth and range. She has been noted for her thin, sharp voice in the past, and she hopes to introduce some change with added coaching. An interesting technique!

Via E Daily, Sports Seoul

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Based on the recent news, it seems this whole Japan-Korea joint production “telecinema” project is finally kicking into high gear.

Despite some actors’ names being floated around as participating in various segments of the project (such as Han Hyo-joo, Lee Soo-kyung, Cha In-pyo, Kim Sun-ah, Kim Haneul), I wasn’t really interested until this latest one announcing my Kang Ji-hwan’s involvement.

Yay! And yet, also boooooo — because it sounds like it may possibly end up really lame. Still, hope remains alive as long as he gets to show his acting chops, unoriginal story notwithstanding.

But first, what the heck is the telecinema project anyway? >>

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You know how at the prom, everyone goes for uber-glitz and black-tie formal, only it’s done through the filter of a 17-year-old fashion sense — or rather, what a 17-year-old would think was formal black-tie fashion sense? So the end result is a really weird mix of over-the-top gaudiness that may have been expensive but looks cheap?

That’s kind of the feel I get from looking at pictures from the 7th Annual Korea Film Awards.

Of course there are some standouts — Han Ye-seul glammed it up with the appropriate touch of class and sexiness — but there were also a lot of beautiful women in ugly dresses that looked more off-the-rack Jessica McClintock (hey, it’s fake prom!) than red-carpet awards ceremony.

So if we’re talking red-carpet wow factor, it was a decided step down from, say, last month’s lovely Blue Dragon Awards.

As for the awards themselves, no surprises if you’ve been watching the accolades accumulate all year long. The Chaser was the overwhelming winner, with The Good, The Bad, The Weird taking up (a distant) second place. A few notable exceptions from the rule were Kang Ji-hwan (A Movie Is a Movie) and Gong Hyo-jin (Crush and Blush), but you can check out the full list (and, of course, the fashions!) below the jump.

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