"Heading to Korea" The Continuing Wave of Asian Actors Visiting, Why?

[Lee Isul's Magnifier]
Donnie Yen, Hu Guanghan, Shunsuke, etc.
Movie Promotion and Appreciation Events Held
Also Hope for Visits to Korea for Symbolic Reasons

As the skies reopened amid the cyclical waves of COVID-19, Asian stars are flocking to Korea one after another.

The first to unlock the gates was Tom Cruise. Last summer, he visited Korea for the first time in three years with 'Top Gun: Maverick.' The film ranked second at the box office last year, earning 87.85536 billion KRW. 'Bread Hyung' also came. Brad Pitt visited Korea to promote 'Bullet Train' and met with domestic audiences.

More overseas stars are expected to visit Korea this year. This is believed to be influenced by the industrial significance of the Korean film market.

Hong Kong Action Star Donnie Yen at Sixty

Attending the press screening, Donnie Yen (Zhen Zidan)
Photo by Yonhap News

Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen (Jeon Jidan, 甄子丹, 60) visited Korea for the first time in 13 years. Donnie Yen met with Korean fans ahead of the release of the film The Eight Dragons: Battle of the Sect, in which he played the lead role and also served as director, producer, and action choreographer.

The Eight Dragons: Battle of the Sect is a classic martial arts action film set during the early Northern Song dynasty, depicting the conflict between the Song dynasty and the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. The story follows the beggar gang leader Jiao Feng (Donnie Yen), who is framed for murder and leaves the gang to embark on a new journey.

Donnie Yen visited Korea with chief director Wang Zheng ahead of the film's release on the 25th. He attended a press screening and conducted interviews with domestic film journalists. During a Q&A session, he also met with broadcaster Nam Chang-hee, known for their resemblance.

His unique promotional activities also caught attention. He appeared on SBS variety show Running Man and KBS1's Morning Yard to promote the film.

Japanese Romance 'Oseisa' Blossoms at the Box Office

[Photo by BY4M Studio]

Shunsuke Michieda from the Japanese Johnny's group Naniwa Danshi is also coming to Korea. Shunsuke played the lead role of Kamiya Toru in the film Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight. The film, released on November 30 last year, surpassed 910,000 cumulative viewers, prompting his visit to Korea.

The film portrays a poignant romance between high school girl Maori, who suffers from anterograde amnesia that resets her memory every morning, and ordinary high school boy Toru, who leads a dull life. It surpassed 800,000 cumulative viewers within 41 days of release, becoming the highest-grossing Japanese romance film since the 2000s and the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film since 2007.

Shunsuke Michieda will visit Korea for a one-night, two-day schedule from the 24th to the 25th. He plans to express gratitude to his Korean fans. On the 24th, he will hold a press conference to thank fans for the film's success and share his thoughts.

'Shang Qin Zi' Gather Here

The leads of Shang Jian Ni, Gaga Yuan, He Guanghan, and Shi Baiwu, who have formed a strong fandom in Korea, are coming. Shang Jian Ni is a multiverse fantasy romance that began with the chance meeting of Li Ziwei and Huang Yixuan in 2009, sparking a strangely thrilling d?j? vu. The film earned 68.2 billion KRW within three weeks of release in China and surpassed 88.88 million TWD (3.61652 billion KRW) within 17 days of release in Taiwan, gaining popularity. Especially, He Guanghan held a fan meeting in Korea last September, showing his strong popularity.

The three main actors will hold press conferences and stage greetings for three days from the 26th to the 28th. The stage greetings sold out all seats within one minute of ticket opening on the 19th, showing intense interest. In response, the distributor urgently scheduled encore stage greetings on the 27th and 28th.

Why are they rushing to visit Korea? This seems to be driven by the changed status of Korean cinema and the increasing importance of domestic box office performance in the global film market.

A representative from a distribution company said, "The success of a film in Korea is important. Not only domestic films but also foreign films consider the Korean box office performance in Asia as a major factor." He added, "Korean audiences love movies. Although Korea is a small country, the film market is large, and the revenue generated is significant, making it important from an industrial perspective."

Another film industry insider said, "In the past, the Korean market in Asia was seen as a large and high-growth potential market, but now it feels more symbolic." He continued, "Recently, as we have achieved various global successes, Korea is emerging as a unique and market-leading position. In this atmosphere, actors prefer to come to Korea."