'Descendants of the Sun’ stars Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo. (Photo : Facebook/Descendants of the Sun)
In spite of Pyongyang's tight control over the convergence of the capitalist culture, a growing number of North Koreans are secretly watching the mega-hit KBS2's TV series "Descendants of the Sun." The melodrama, which starred Song Joong Ki, Song Hye Kyo, Jin Go and Kim Ji Won, aired on KBS2 from Feb. 24 to April 22 for 19 episodes.
The news came to light when a local news outlet, The Daily NK, reported that many North Koreans are watching South Korean dramas or listening to K-pop music to lessen stress, The Korea Times has learned.
The publication notes that North Korea has reinforced its crackdown on the distribution of DVDS and USBs containing South Korean movies and dramas, which are pirated in from the outside world. According to a 2015 report on North Korean Human Rights by South Korea's state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), the North Korea has reportedly executed those individuals who were caught watching and circulating such DVDs.
Despite that, a growing number of young North Koreans, specifically, are reportedly enthusiastic about watching "Descendants of the Sun." The drama recounts the one of a kind love story of Army Captain Yoo Si Jin (Joong Ki) and Dr. Kang Mo Yeon (Hye Kyo) in the anecdotal war-torn country of Uruk. The drama's remarkable military theme and its convoluted storyline have attracted a huge number of people to get snared in the series.
"Descendants of the Sun" was a major hit in South Korea and received immense popularity across Asia, most notably in mainland China. The drama aired simultaneously in China on iQiyi and was streamed 2.3 billion times as of this writing, though the scene depicting a battle with North Korea, which is China's associate, was ultimately censored.
The drama's popularity across China caused concern with the country's Ministry of Public Security. On March 12, China's Ministry of Public Security posted a notice on its official Weibo account against the show, stating that watching Korean dramas could be perilous and even prompt legal inconveniences.
Meanwhile, most recent reports claimed that the drama will be made into a movie in China. Numerous newsstand in China reported that one of the country's biggest film production companies, Huace Film & TV, has already bought the rights to reproduce it into a film.
The "Descendants of the Sun" movie will be helmed by Chinese film director Zhang Yibai, whose previous projects include the 2013 "Forgetting to Know You" and 2014's "Fleet of Time," The Korea Herald reported. The lead roles for Yoo Si Jin and Kang Mo Yeon have not been cast yet. More details about the project will be revealed soon.
Check out the trailer below:
