“Descendants of the Sun” actor Song Joong-ki must have been so effective in his portrayal of Army Captain Yoo Si Jin that even a real military general gave his thumbs up to the record-breaking Korean drama.
PM is a Hallyu Fan
Unlike China which initially was alarmed by the growing popularity of the 31-year-old actor when iQiyi aired the 16-episode drama from late February to mid-April 2016, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has a different response. He openly admits he admires the military drama because “Descendants of the Sun” left an impact difficult to erase, Inquisitr reported.
He has good words not only for the cast of the hit drama but even South Koreans in general whom the PM lauded for being good at displaying the common values of Asians in dramas. “That is the reason why I particularly admire Descendants of the Sun because not only it tells a love story, but it also instills senses of patriotism, self-sacrifice, and citizenship rights and responsibilities, which are very relevant to our society at this point in time,” PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said.
In May 2016, Song Joong-ki held a fan meeting at the Thunder Dome in Bangkok which kicked-off his Asian Tour. According to SBS, the actor donated all the proceeds of the Thailand fan meet to charity. On Feb. 4, he was back in Bangkok at the same venue when he surprised fans of bromance partner Park Bo Gum by being the guest in the fan meet of the “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds” actor.
Impact on Thai Daily Life
Almost a year since “Descendants of the Sun” premiered over iQiyi and KBS 2TV, the PM said the effect of Hallyu is so strong that it has affected the daily lives of Thai people in many areas, from culture to the academic and politics. “With such a solid base of people-to-people exchange, Korea is so important to Thailand’s market and we hope more investment from Korea will be following since we both agreed to further new areas of cooperation such as infrastructure development and advanced science and technology,” he added.
The former general’s outlook is so different from China which banned Hallyu over the deployment of the THAAD missiles by Seoul. Lately, Beijing even extended the ban to Korean beauty products.