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Soap
star Bae Yong-joon got a rapturous welcome in Tokyo
(Agencies) |
Korean
actor Bae Yong-joon has been greeted by 7,000 screaming fans on a visit to
the Japanese capital Toyko.
The 32-year-actor, who has starred in hit television dramas shown in
Japan, is known as Yong Sama - a name which means "royalty" in
Japanese.
The star has become one of the most popular actors in Japan due to a
fashion for all things Korean.
Bae has become a household name for his role in Winter Sonata, a soap
opera which scored huge ratings.
The actor said he was worried before making the trip to Tokyo.
"I could hardly sleep last night. I was worried there would be so many
fans that they might hurt themselves," he said.
The thousands of mainly middle-aged female fans who turned out to see
Bae either cried or grabbed pictures of him on their mobile phones.
Japan's love affair with Korea follows a tense
history between the two nations, after the Japanese occupation of the
Korean peninsula
from
1910-45.
But the popularity of recent Korean soap operas has strengthened the
sense of cultural affinity between the two countries.
Around 100,000 Japanese women are expected to go on tours of South
Korea which feature locations from Winter Sonata.
The dramas usually feature traditional Asian values like repsect for
parents, plus romance and nostalgia.
Critics have called the soap operas "soppy", and said that Japanese
people should concentrate on changing their attitudes to ethnic Koreans
who live in Japan.
(Agencies) |