The 16-episode “Descendants of the Sun” may be soon coming to an end, to be marked by three-day special episodes, but the memory of the blockbuster would long linger into the hearts of fans of Song Joong-ki.
To ensure that followers of the Korean drama would not forget, the South Korean government is planning to turn places where the KBS 2TV drama filmed into tourist destinations, reported Yonhap. The sites would be developed, in cooperation with the Korea Tourism Organization, to feature traditional and contemporary Korean culture.
In the capital city of Seoul, the sites would include chain stores and cafes operated by a local coffee brand where Song’s character, Yoo Si-jin, dated Kang Mo-yeon, the character played by Song Hye Kyo, the lead stars of “Descendants of the Sun.” In Paju, located north of Seoul, it would be Camp Greaves, a former American military base that served as shooting site for the drama’s army scenes. There is also a former mine in Taebaek, an eastern city.
The South Korean government had previously used the same strategy when “Winter Sonata” became popular across Asia. It developed Nami Island in the eastern city of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province where the series was shot. Besides Nami, other filming sites of “Winter Sonata” attracted thousands of Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian tourists who are the key markets of hallyu, or Korean pop culture.
Another hit series, “My Love from the Stars,” aired in 2013 and 2014, brings 2 million foreign tourists yearly to South Korea.
Like these two Korean dramas, “Descendants of the Sun” is also boosting the South Korean economy. Market observers estimate it would generate over 3 trillion won ($261 million) worth of economic effects, reported Korea Herald.
Although the $261 million is a drop in the bucket compared to South Korea’s $1.43-trillion gross domestic product, it is still not bad considering that the producers of “Descendants of the Sun” spent only 13 billion won ($11.4 million) to produce the 16-episode blockbuster drama.
Episode 10 of the series, which aired Wednesday and will air Thursday, broke viewership records again in South Korea, registering 36.4 percent in Seoul and 31.6 percent across the country.