Based on the true story of a controversial figure, Shin Don covers the life of Buddhist monk Shin Don (played by Son Chang Min), who took over the leadership of Korea during one of its most troubled times and became a powerful revolutionary and political leader. It is also the story of King Gong Min Wang (Jong Bo Suk) and Queen Nokuk (Seo Ji Hye), the two royals of the time whose lives were intrinsically intertwined with his. Directed by Kim Jin Min (La Dolce Vita, Time Between Dog and Wolf), Shin Don is a superb historical epic which ably captures the life of an extraordinary individual.

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Category: Korean Drama | Tags: Historical, Jung Bo Suk, Kdrama, Kim Hye Ri, Kim Jin Min, Korean, sageuk, Seo Ji Hye, Shin Don, Son Chang Min

Uee

Uee, from Kpop girl group After School and the popular romance You’re Beautiful, is set to star in the upcoming sports drama Birdie Buddy. In a radical image change, she’ll play a simple mountain girl whose life is transformed when she picks up an 8 iron and discovers her love of golf.

Yoon Eun Hye headed down to the docks for this cinematic new photo shoot for the Spring collection from Joinus.

Kim Bum has said that he disconnected his internet connection after reading criticism of his acting in The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, but he might want to reconnect–evidently the drama’s been getting some positive buzz for the cute relationship between Kim and Choi Chul Ho (Queen of Housewives). Kim plays Choi’s former student who becomes the older man’s teacher in the art of seduction.

A new pair of interviews with the men of Chuno has been released! First, Jang Hyuk talked about what drew him to his slave-catcher role, how he maintains his bodacious bod and how he helped shape the look of his character–you can read it all here.

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Category: News | Tags: Birdie Buddy, Choi Chul Ho, Chuno, Fever Watch, Jang Hyuk, Kdrama, Kim Bum, Korean, Kpop, Lee Na Young, Oh Ji Ho, Queen of Housewives, Show Luo, Tawainese, Twdrama, Uee, Yoon Eun Hye, You're Beautiful

DramaFever adds a little non-drama today with the premiere of two new documentary series from Korea: Shocking Life and Cultural Trilogy! Part Real Sex, part Ghost Hunters, and part Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Shocking Life examines the oddities and the unusual from Korea. Divided into three parts: Sex, Beauty and Supernatural – this is a side of Korea you haven’t seen before! Cultural Trilogy guides you between the three East Asian cultures of Korea, China and Japan, their differences and their shared cultural experiences from thousands of years of history.

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Category: Documentary | Tags: Beauty, China, Chinese, Cultural Trilogy, Japan, Japanese, Korea, Korean, Sex, Shocking Life, Supernatural

Park Bo Young

Han Ga In is returning to Kdrama after a three year hiatus with Bad Guy, against Queen Seon Duk’s Kim Nam Gil. Han will play a multi-lingual horseback rider and jazz musician who finds herself bored in her marriage and attracted to the Kim’s titular bad boy. The drama starts filming in Japan next week for a May release.

Han’s Witch Amusement castmate Park Bo Young is being sued for fraud and embezzlement by producers of the would-be film Sounds of Ice after backing out on the project. Han says she’s completely innocent and plans to release an “official statement” to her fans soon.

The cast of the upcoming historical drama Dong Yi released their first photos in character. The tale of a plucky water maid who moves in with the king begins after Pasta concludes, and that date has still not been officially set. Talks are under way to extend the gourmet romance another four episodes–and doesn’t everybody look excited?

New photos were just leaked from Han Hyo Joo’s trip to Australia for Samsung. The camera CM she shot there will be released February 6th.

Filming on the Taiwanese drama Lan Se Jia Qi wrapped up with hugs all around for William Feng, Shao Feng, Chen Qiao En and Roy Chiu Ze. The final bittersweet scene was filmed at a church, and the idol drama three months in the making will debut this summer.

Kim Bum and Park Jin Hee gave a mini-interview as a couple to support The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry. Kim noted that the occasional all-night shoots are hard on Park but other than that the inter-generational couple is having a great time together!

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Category: News | Tags: Chen Qiao En, Dong Yi, Fever Watch, Ga Hee, Han Ga In, Han Hyo Joo, Kdrama, Kim Bum, Kim Nam Gil, Kim Tae Hee, Korean, Lan Se Jia Qi, Oh Ji Ho, Park Bo Young, Park Jin Hee, Pasta, Queen Seon Duk, Roy Chiu Ze., Shao Feng, Taiwanese, The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry, Twdrama, William Feng, Witch Amusement

Godo from Queen Seon Duk

Hello Drama Fans! In light of Claire’s 10 KDrama Conventions post, I thought this would be the perfect time to discuss and dissect the character themes that are ever present in our favorite K-dramas. Without these key characters, many dramas and their plots would seem even more ridiculous than they already are, or just be plain old boring tales of morality. I think all drama addicts subconsciously know these themed roles, just as they know the 10 situational ingredients that make an interesting drama. Hopefully you agree with my observations. If you’re a new drama watcher, then I also hope my posts will be of assistance to you.

With that being said, I’d like to ask you all to join me in mapping out these players and their ultimate roles in Korean Drama, and for you to offer your observations as well! Let’s begin by starting from the bottom of the totem pole and working our way up, shall we? First up on our list of key characters is the Village Idiot…oh boy.

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Category: Korean Drama | Tags: 9 Ends 2 Outs, 9 Outs 2 Ins, Kdrama, Kdrama Cliches, Kdrama Conventions, Korean, Queen Seon Duk, Village Idiot, Yi San

Chris Wu

She’s back! After running out on Life is Beautiful just days before shooting would begin, Nam Sang Mi (Gourmet) has returned to the set. The reasons for her departure and return remain unknown, but assuming she stays put Nam will star in the Jeju Island-based family romance starting March 13th.

God of Study fans can’t take it! Evidently, romantic suspense is pure torture to some viewers who are complaining about the ending of a recent episode. I don’t want to give anything away–I’m just going to say it involves a possible kiss and an ambiguous camera angle. All the spoiler-ific details are right here.

We brought you news earlier that Lee Byung Hyun (IRIS) and Han Chae Young (Boys Before Flowers) are starring in an online three-part movie called Influence. Now a few more plot details have emerged about the time-travel romance, uploaded to a computer near you in March.

And it looks like you’ll be seeing much more of Lee in the next G.I. Joe film. Due to the popularity of his character Storm Shadow in the first movie, producers have expanded Lee’s role in the sequel, which he gave up season two of IRIS to shoot.

Speaking of IRIS, the mega-hit has not only been firing up a lot of drama fever around here, it’s also being positioned to grab a wide audience in Japan! In an unusual move, TBS will show IRIS during prime time, usually reserved for homegrown programming, in hopes of reigniting the Hallyu boom nationwide.

The Autumn’s Concerto has some great team spirit! Chris Wu promised that if the show’s ratings hit 6%, he’d take a dive on camera. Sunday they climbed past 8%, so Wu took the dunk. Co-star Van Ness Wu told press that Chris is “very brave, very handsome, and has a well-trained body,” which you can see for yourself here. Next, Ady An is supposed to do a pole dance if ratings top 10% in the remaining two episodes!

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Category: News | Tags: Ady An, Boys Over Flowers, Chris Wu, Fever Watch, GI Joe, God of Study, Goong, Gourmet, Han Chae Young, IRIS, Joo Ji Hoon, Kdrama, Kim Bum, Korean, Lee Byung Huyn, Lee Min Ho, Life is Beautiful, Nam Sang Mi, So Ji Sub, Taiwanese, Twdrama, Van Ness Wu

Now that the three Taiwanese dramas I highlighted in A Look at Fall 2009’s Taiwanese Dramas are nearing their conclusions or have already ended, I’d like to weigh back in on how they turned out.

WARNING: May contain spoilers for Autumn’s Concerto.

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Category: Taiwanese Drama | Tags: Ady An, Autumn's Concerto, Cyndi Wang, Hi My Sweetheart, Jiro Wang, Momo Love, Rainie Lang, Rainie Yang, Show Luo, Taiwanese, Twdrama, Vanness Wu

We kicked off February in a big way with IRIS and MY GIRL – two incredible drama fan favorites. To celebrate, we’ve got two calendars for this month. Which one will you choose?!

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Category: Korean Drama Random | Tags: DramaFever, IRIS, Kdrama, Korean, My Girl

The Hong sisters’ second smash hit in a chain of successful dramas beginning with Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, My Girl is a charming, well-written, funny affair from start to finish, and became an instant Kdrama classic. It’s surprisingly hard to do romance well, but My Girl pulls it off in fine style with superb performances all around from now-superstars Lee Dong Wook, Lee Da Hae, and Lee Jun Ki.

Lee Da Hae and Lee Jun Ki had just come off successful roles in Green Rose and film hit The King and the Clown, respectively, and bringing their star power to the drama propelled both it and themselves to even greater fame. The drama’s real breakout, however, was Lee Dong Wook, who having previously starred only in relatively under-the-radar dramas, made a sensation with the good looks, charm, and intense charisma which he brought to the role of Gong Chan, the drama’s reserved, warm-hearted lead.

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Category: Korean Drama | Tags: Hong Sisters, Kdrama, Korean, Lee Da Hae, Lee Dong Wook, Lee Jun Ki, My Girl

Lee Da Hae in CHUNO

Lee Da Hae has been getting an incredible amount of flak for her physical appearance on the stylized historical fusion drama Chuno. Some viewers say that she doesn’t look gritty enough to be a runaway slave, others that her fingernails are too shiny, and there continue to be dust-ups when she shows a hint of cleavage (the criticism got even louder when her cleavage was blurred). In response to the fury–and perhaps thinking that her co-stars Oh Ji Ho and Jang Hyuk show their share of skin too–Lee told KBS’ Entertainment Tonight, “I want to be a male actor in my next life.”

Jang Geun Suk opened his fan meeting in Seoul by performing Without Words, from the soundtrack of You’re Beautiful. The meeting with 3,000 in attendance also included a Q and A session, and you can see videos from the day’s events right here.

The Korean film and drama star Kim Yun Jin, best known to American audiences as Sun on Lost, is creating her own talent management company which will combine American and Korean business practices. Kim described her strategy for snagging the Lost role (she played hard-to-get), and talked about her future plans as the series concludes in a recent interview here.

Moon Chae Won (Shining Inheritance) rocked out for Hillfiger Denim in a new photo spread with the slogan “Jeans fit for an actress.”

So Ji Sub fans will want to check out this newly-translated interview with the Cain and Abel star for Vogue Nippon in which he talks sex appeal, his approach to new roles, and whether he has his sites set on Hollywood.

Will Pan (Miss No Good) will reunite with Hi My Sweetheart producer Chai Zhi Ping for a new drama. Chai says that she is looking to hire Korean writers for the new series, hoping that they will bring a fresh perspective rather than simply retread a typical idol drama plot.

Lee Ji Ah (Style) didn’t let a leg cast stop her from traveling to Cambodia on a volunteer mission. Her trip was captured by the news program Danbi and aired this Sunday.

Finally, all you IRIS fans will want to catch a new parody video in which we find out what really drives Lee Byung Hun nuts!

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Category: News | Tags: Cain and Abel, Chai Zhi Ping, Chuno, Fever Watch, Hi My Sweetheart, IRIS, Jang Geun Suk, Jang Hyuk, Kdrama, Kim Yun Jin, Korean, Lee Byung Hun, Lee Da Hae, Lee Ji Ah, Miss No Good, Moon Chae Won, Oh Ji Ho, Shining Inheritance, So Ji Sub, Style, Will Pan, You're Beautiful