"Descendants of the Sun" is coming to an end as its final episode is set to air on Thursday, April 14. Followers of the Korean drama cannot wait for the ending to unfold but they are also sad because it will be the last time that they will be seeing the famed characters Captain Yoo and Dr. Kang Mo Yeon.
Millions are expected to tune in for the drama's last broadcast, and without a doubt, the ratings will be really high. KBS Network also confirmed that it will not produce a second season despite the drama's overwhelming popularity, but still, viewers remained positive that there will be one.
Moreover, with over 2 billion views on the Chinese video streaming site IQiyi alone, "Descendants of the Sun" is a big hit in China. The viewership ratings in the said site have been steady since the drama started airing in February. In Korea, it was also named as the highest-rating and most-watched show in recent years, Korea Times reported.
In the latest report, it was stated that on Weibo, Chinese equivalent of Twitter, the searches for drama already reached a staggering 10.3 billion and this is another proof that the KBS show has been phenomenal, in and outside of South Korea. The high rating being enjoyed by the drama has been estimated to be 300 million points more than the highest rating secured by the 2013 smash hit "My Love from Another Star."
According to Bloomberg, the producers of the Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo drama-starrer have already signed contracts to export the series in at least 32 countries like Japan, Philippines, New Zealand and Germany. The price of the dealings were not revealed but in China, IQiyi paid a staggering amount of $250,000 per episode.
The amazing popularity of the "Descendants of the Sun" is strongly felt in South Korea as many foreign fans have expressed their interest in touring the shooting locations of the drama, particularly the fictional city of Urk.
This interest of the fans spiked up Gangwon Province's tourism and the region is now offering special tour packages in Taebaek, Gangwon where the "Urk" set is located. Fans also discovered Joong Ki's parent's home in Daejon and the house is now a tourist attraction as well.
Watch the preview of episode 16 and guess how the drama will end: