The huge success of the South Korea television drama "Descendants of the Sun" goes beyond the small screen. Three of 10 songs from the show’s soundtrack that have been released also topped music charts and sales in the two countries.
The show premiered on Feb. 24 in both countries simultaneously, with fans religiously following the show which explains its enviable numbers of TV viewers as well as music fans. According to China Entertainment News, the three are in top places in South Korean music charts and has more than 1 million sales in China.
These are “Always” a ballad sung by female rapper Yoon Mi-ra, “Everytime,” a pop duet performed by Punch and Chen, a member of EXO, a K-pop boy band, and “This Love,” another ballad by Davich, a K-pop duo.
In YouTube, “Always” has more than 550,000 views, “Everytime” has 145,000 and “This Love” has 130,000 hits.
Shown every Wednesday and Thursday simultaneously in China and South Korea at 9 p.m., for this week, the series would air the show’s fifth and sixth episodes. In China, where it is shown over video platform iQiyi.com, "Descendants of the Sun" has garnered more than 400 million views, a big jump from the 30 million views during the first episode.
In South Korea, during its premiere, the show got a 14.3 percent viewership which broke 20 percent in the fourth episode, destroying the 2013 record set by “My Love From the Star,” in 2013 by the SBS series. According to Yonhapnews, the show’s fourth episode, shown on March 4, got a 23.7 percent rating, beating the competition in the same time slot.
The drama stars actor Song Joong-Ki portrays Yoo si-jin, an army lieutenant from Uruk, a country torn by war. His love interest is actress Song Hye-kyo, who plays the role of an outspoken physician, Kang Mo-yeon.