Korean Drama Guide

This page is a brief introduction to the actors of Korean movies and dramas. The success of Korean dramas, a youth-dominated market, may be attributed to attractive actors and actresses who embody a number of traits that are very familiar to regular drama viewers and popular fantasies among women. Portrayed sensitivity and depth among male characters in Korean dramas attracts many female viewers.

More importantly though, these productions have universal themes that transcend cultures, typically dealing with traditional issues such as family, love, and filial piety in an age of changing technology and values.

As of October 2008, South Korea is the 13th largest economy and 9th largest film market in the world; thus its entertainment companies are able to finance shows and movies with higher production values than elsewhere in Asia. Korean artists' performances are slickly produced and often feature spectacular special effects. South Korea is indeed a developed country, which is greatly reflected on its dramas, movies and TV shows.

Korean male celebrities are now among the highest-paid actors outside of Hollywood. The best-selling international artists from Korea are Rain and BoA. Other international stars include Shinhwa, TVXQ and Super Junior. Korean male celebrities are now among the highest-paid actors outside Hollywood. According to the South Korean media, "Winter Sonata" star Bae Yong Jun, whose character stood by his first love through 10 years of car accidents and amnesia is now charging $5 million a film, the steepest price anywhere in Asia. In a few short years, Bae is said to have accumulated a merchandising and acting-fee empire worth an estimated $100 million. At least nine other Korean male stars earn more than $10 million a year, according to a list published in June by the Seoul-based Sports Hankook newspaper.

In Seoul, the neon-lit streets are mobbed these days by visiting Asian women, many sporting rhinestone-studded T-shirts emblazoned with images of their favorite Korean stars. Some fans have been known to stake out famous eateries for hours in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their celluloid beaus. Jang Dong Gun, now one of the highest-paid actors in Asia,said he was shocked when, during his first trip to Vietnam in 1998 to promote his new Korean TV drama, thousands of women mobbed his plane at the Hanoi airport and an armada of female fans on motor scooters chased his car all the way to his hotel.

South Korean men are the latest stars to rise with the "Korean Wave," a trend that has marked growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China and throughout Asia. In 2001, the Seoul-based manufacturer Daewoo Electronics hired him as its Vietnam spokesman. Over the past five years, the company said, its refrigerators' market share in Vietnam went from a blip to a robust 34 percent. "If we can give them a little more joy in their life and show them another side of Korea, than I can only see that as a plus for us and them," he said.

In China, South Korean programs broadcast on government TV networks now account for more than all other foreign programs combined, including those from the United States and Japan, according to South Korean government statistics. Even in Mexico -- land of the telenovela -- a flock of local women stood outside South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's hotel during a recent visit, holding placards with Korean stars' names.

In the United States, the Seoul-based singer Rain played two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in 2005. Also last year, sinewy Daniel Dae Kim, the Korean-born actor from the hit show "Lost," was the only Asian to land a spot in People magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" edition. Though the Korean Wave hit Japan relatively late, washing ashore only within the past 24 to 36 months, the country has quickly become the largest market for Korean stars. Bae remains the biggest, but his supremacy is being challenged. Actor Kwon Sang Woo, for instance, is charging $200 for some seats at an upcoming "fan meeting" in Tokyo. Thousands of Japanese are scrambling for a chance to watch him play games with fans, chat and perform little song-and-dance numbers. Some tickets are going for as much as $500 on online auction sites. Almost all the major Korean male stars have opened lucrative "official stores" in Tokyo.