Foreign media visit the set of TV series "Dong Yi"

MBC TV series "Dong Yi - Jewel in the Crown" is looking to reignite the Hallyu buzz that director Lee Byung-hoon had sparked up in 2003 with Lee Young-ae starrer "Jewel in the Palace," inviting the foreign press to its set in Yong-in yesterday.

Broadcaster MBC said in a press release that Lee opened up the set of his latest historical drama, located in the city of Yong-in, South Korea, on Wednesday to some 50 media journalists from Southeast Asia (25 from Japan, China 14, Thailand 5, Malaysia 4 and Singapore 2), who interviewed the noted director as well as the show's lead actor Ji Jin-hee.

During an interview session with Lee, the maestro behind smash hit epics "Huh Joon" (MBC, 1999) and "Jewel in the Palace" (MBC, 2003), foreign reporters asked a variety of questions ranging from the subject matters in his dramas to how he chooses his main characters and whether he thinks about how the show will sell overseas when he is making it.

The reporters seemed to have been impressed by the director as well as the size of the drama's set.

"I was surprised because the drama set in Yong-in was bigger than I thought," Ms. Masako of Japanese newspaper Nishinippon Shimbun was quoted as saying. "Meeting and listening to Lee Byung-hoon, I'm starting to think that there is a reason behind entertaining dramas. I think he is a person who is unique and has a great sense when it comes to directing dramas."

Masako, a self-proclaimed Hallyu fan, added that there is a huge interest in Japan for Korean dramas.

"Dong Yi," which stars actress Han Hyo-joo, is about a woman named Dong Yi who grows up to become Choi Suk-bin, a consort of King Sukjong and the mother of King Youngjo during the Joseon Dynasty.

The show has been dominating Korea's TV ratings charts for Monday and Tuesday evenings, taking the No.1 spot in its time slot for the sixteenth consecutive time last week.

The 50-part series has so far been sold to ten countries including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. It is currently airing in Japan on cable.