It’s a bit disconcerting to see how insanely popular Song Joong Ki has become. Only time will tell if his Descendants of the Sun mass fame will continue for years on end like Kim Soo Hyun has ridden his You From Another Star wave. It’s undisputed that Song Joong Ki is the current It Face of Hallyu entertainment so it makes sense for him to be tapped by the South Korean government to be the spokesperson for Korean cuisine. Song Joong Ki attended a PR event alongside President Park Geun Hye for a showcase at the K-Style Hub Traditional Korean Cuisine Cultural Center, created for the purpose of introducing traditional Korean good to overseas visitors. She thanks the super busy Song Joong Ki for taking time from his schedule to attend the event along with a cooking class, and also praised the appeal of DotS for bolstering awareness of the charms of Korea to a foreign audience.
It feels a bit nostalgic.. I still remember the days he was in Running Man. I’m super happy for him and I think he has the charm and talent to keep the fame.
Ermm..I still think kim soo hyun is a better actor…it showed even in projects when he was still not famous.
I agree. But let’s leave Kim Soo Hyun out of this.
In case you don’t know as a fan of Kim Soo Hyu. Kim Soo Hyun actually mentioned Song Joong Kim in his interview about how he manipulated his role as a young Joseon king in his breakout drama The Moon Embracing the Sung. KSH said that he took SJK as a role model and studied SJK’s acting in critically acclaimed sageuk Deep Rooted Tree to get inspiration for his role in TMEMTS. Even just with 4 episodes of screen time in DRT as a supporting actor, SJK won a PDs’ award for his amazing performance. Since I’ve been a fan of KSH myself for years, I think I’m judging these two actors on a fair basis. KSH and SJK are both talented actors with different acting styles. But in my opinions, SJK is more versatile than KSH and has a broader acting range.
KSH is a good actor but not better than SJK but I’m glad he has dethroned KSH in all departments. I’m sure will sweep all the major awards shows this year.
Dethroned? When?! How?! Examples?!
I don’t care much if SJK will be handed a lot of drama awards or not this year. He’s been recognized as a talented actor before being enlisted in military service way back to 2012-2013. His popularity was actually equally the same as KSH in S. Korea back then and then he went on to the military while KSH garnered all the rising popularity from breakout drama The Moon Embracing the Sun and moved on to have popular My Love from the Stars. In reality, while SJK admitted it was nice to have a lot of acting awards, he seems very down to earth and cares much about popularity, which he’s already achieved at this point with all time high compared to his peers. Awards or none, I’m happy he’s risen to such stardom that I’m sure he’s going to dominate CF market in K ent this year. At least, that’s what has already been going on now. I really want to see SJK lead a very comfortable life with huge income he deserves, worry-free for the rest of his life so that he can focus on choosing good projects for to advance his acting career.
@yoppie, KSH is you who came from the stars while SJK is you who came from the sun. LOL
I have to agree about kim soo hyun, but song joong ki is a decent actor. But I do think he isn’t perfectly cast in DotS. Actually, I do think he was perfectly cast for Nice Guy (Innocent Man).
you’re wrong limbo.Song Joong Ki is the best and a great actor among his contemporaries.i watched of all their dramas and films.only song joong ki can conveys so much emotions even without uttering a word, with just his eyes and facial expressions you can feel the character he is potraying.Koala do you think SJK will read your blog and the comments here?? I just wanna say that I am soooo happy for him that finally people not only in SKorea but also all over asia recognized his acting ability.I know he deserved it for me he is the best!!!!!
Nope. That actor in my opinion is YOO AH IN. SJK swept the popularity polls, YAI took all the awards and tied with Lee Jung Jae to become the youngest Blue Dragon Award winner in korea’s equivalent of the oscars.
yeah, Yoo Ah In is the best imo but in terms of talent, Song Joong Ki is a very close second. They both have actual talent and don’t just rely on their looks and image for popularity like many Hallyu stars.
That’s your personal opinion. For me and many, Song Joong Ki is the best. Awards don’t necessarily spell out everything in terms of acting talent, specifically when the comparison of actors’ talent is not on an equal playing field. Song Joong Ki was already recognized by K drama industry (producers) for his outstanding performance when he was just a supporting role with only 4 episodes of screen time in Deep Rooted Tree back in 2011. He’d been gone for military service for almost 2 years while Yoo Ah In and other promising actors of his peers continued to build up their resumes. Let’s wait and see how YAI will be doing coming out of military service. Not to diss him up. I’m his fan too. But some of his early dramas were either epic flop like Fashion King or historical gibberish like Jang Ok-jung, Living by Love. He did not rise to fame with more critically acclaimed dramas like Secret Love Affair until 2014 and that’s when Song Joong Ki was still in the military.
So happy for joong ki! He really deserved everything right now. I hope his gonna visit Philippines soon 🙂
Unless there is some scandal, I think it will last and he doesn’t have to worry about military srv. The sad thing is I think while they do movies, hallyu stars at the height of their popularity are really hesitant to do dramas for fear of getting an unpopular project. I get it, make all the money you can on CFs and build your brand in China but I don’t think we’ll see him back in dramaland for several years. I’d be happy to be wrong 😉
To some degree I agree with you. I’ve also read that SJK has been picked up on a war film (and his role as a soldier) with So Ji Sub and another veteran actor that I forgot his name. So I think 2016 and 2017 he won’t be in any drama. Unless he picked a drama project after finish shooting the movie
That’s one movie, we can still hope he’ll do a drama in 2017! But I look forward to seeing him work with So Ji-sub and Hwang Jung-min, HJM especially is an amazing actor.
It’s unprecedented that a country’s leader will have a public appearance at the same time as a celebrity to endorse and promote something. Lee Min Ho and other K celebrities were also selected to be sorta cultural spokesman for S. Korea before, but never had there been any other entertainers receiving such overwhelming attention and reception from the nation’s executives at such a high level. It just shows that even S. Korea government administration recognizes the significance of the economic impact of K dramas on the income from exporting goods. It’s been reported how profitable DotS has been since the first episode was aired. Also the popularity of DotS throughout (at least) Asia is striking to the point political authorities of several Asian countries publicly referenced the drama, be it positive or negative. From economic and political points of view, it’s legit for SJK to have such a high-profile public appearance with S. Korean leader.
People please don’t overlook the impact of advertisement promoted by these K ent celebrities. I myself knew NOTHING about Korean culture before I started exploring Kpop years ago. Because of my love of Kpop, I started to watch a lot of K variety shows and from there I learned some features of Korean culture, traditions, and values. I also started to try out Korean food from the Korean grocery stores in my neighborhood, visited Korean restaurants, and feel easier to communicate with my Korean neighbors and contractors. These cultural exposures through entertainment help me understand Korean people more and also elevate my respect to this country and the people as well.
Therefore, I think Korean president is wise to make such a public appearance along with Song Joong Ki to promote Korean cuisine that’s just part of Korean culture. There’re definitely significant economic and cultural benefits behind this event.
I’m sharing this news from well known business/financial media Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-11/china-s-fascination-with-tv-war-drama-is-poised-to-draw-tourists-to-korea
It’s obvious S. Korea government will ride on the wave to capitalize on the immense popularity of DotS. The economic impact this drama renders is not something to ignore.
I honestly am not paying much attention to DoTS (or any kdramas honestly) so I am honestly stunned at how big the show and SJK has become. He seems like a great guy and I like that he seems serious about his acting craft.
I’ve never really been into his dramas or captivated by his super boy-ish face (never seen a grown man with such a baby face my goodness!!) but he’s always had my respect.
So we’ve had LMH, KSH and now SJK emerge as mega Hallyu stars in the last few years. I hope the next person will be a woman!!!
@deb- I exchange I Dos with a very capable grown man with a baby face. My sister who hasn’t seen us for five years commented, my husband face didnt change , still looking young. See, he’s older than me but man, am beginning to feel not good when friends thinks am older than him. Life. Well i get my revenge ravishing his face every day. Yumyum.
haha that is very cute!!
Looking back at SJK days at running man n now in DodS, he has really made his mark. Even before he was mature for his age and worked hard to improve on acting. Post enlisting in the army has further given him the time to refine himself. I’m really happy for his success. He’s pretty humble and grounded. Hope all this fame won’t change that. And he keep picking good projects to grow further.
It’s so funny to look back on his Running Man days. I thought it was really cute that he made a cameo on the show right after getting out of the army.
That is clearly discrimination. I wonder, why hasn’t Song Hye Kyo got that attention?
My thought exactly
Just my own opinion. I’m actually quite worried for Song Joongki. I really liked him before he went to the army and saw all his productions both on dramas and the movies. The one thing I feel really disconcerted about his “meteoric rise” is that unlike Kim Soo Hyun which was a slow build from a drama production that was fully financed by SBS and the production company and gathered fans steadily from the early eps on… DOTS is produced with Chinese money and there’s a lot at stake for those who invested the many millions. There seems to be a disturbing underlying level of media play to hype up the drama as I know many watchers like it but aren’t the level of crazy bonkers over the storyline. Manic SJK fever all of a sudden when he has always been there (He was already popular from RM, Sungkyunkwan Scandal Nice Guy, Werewolf Boy) seems just a ittle too much, too soon that it feels OFF. I think the true test is in the upcoming fan meetings that is happening in China and Asia very soon. TRUE FANS likely have to shell out at least USD150 – 300 for a ticket just to see him. I will be interested if the supposed manic interest does translate to the parting of such big mounts of money just to have chit chat time and see SJK since we all know he isn’t exactly musically inclined or hold a tune well. I hope for his sake, the popularity is based on true facts and not some players manipulating the syndrome. Last year many chinese movie companies were fined by SARFT for reporting on fake figures on box office and also other shady mediaplay and its what they have always done. Koreans who are influenced on hype and national pride fueled by the hype on the early onset contributed to the ratings. In the end, the person who will suffer most is the artist cos if the fan meetings dun do well… that will affect his rep and for those chinese investors, they wouldn’t care as would have already reaped their returns and turn their attention to the next money project. Time will tell… I like him but don’t love him. hence I am taking a back seat and seeing everything unfold with a pinch of salt as it still feels a bit of a leap of faith for me just to how surreal the situation is.
eh, he’s in a popular drama, people with far less to their names in terms of critical praise and ratings success have sold out fanmeetings before. It’s not that hard to believe Song Joong Ki will too.
But C-fans pay for anything. It’s easy money. Lots of unknowns (Koreans and other country stars) have sold out concerts in China. China is not a good place to be judged on a stars popularity. They give out free tickets to fill seats of no-one buys them.
Long time not post here.. I wish all the best luck to both song joong ki and kim soo hyun.. I am very happy more good actors are rising to be a hallyu star. That shows viewers now know how to recognize real acting skill not just handsome face.. I wish yooh ah in also will reach hallyu fame such as song joong ki in near future
all Song Joong Ki talk aside, I wonder what that dish he’s tasting is? Looks interestingly shaped, like a different kind of cookie.
For me both of them are superb actors in their own ways. They have different style in handling and acting out the roles or characters that they portrayed. Fans on both sides can’t help but to compare who’s who and better in every way it’s a normal behavior and reactions but for me there’s no need to do such extent both of the actors deserves praises for their work and they both work hard to be what they are now and they both deserves credit. Korean dramas will be too boring if only one of them stars in every drama that will be shown. As the saying goes there is a time and a season for everything and it is time for SJK to be the frontliner of the K-wave just like what KSH had before. so chill everyone and lets enjoy the last 2 episodes of DOTS( for SJK’s fan, i mean)
+1
The most sensible comment in this thread I’ve read so far.
It’s kinda pathetic that this president who has bad reputation in governing SK and just lost many chairs in today’s general election is using a popular drama to boost her popularity.
I’ve been watching joong ki since his skating drama (back in 2009) so its so heartwarming to see him get this much success now. He’s a great actor and he’s being appreciated for it.
At the time of his military leave he was at the same level of popularity as KSH but then he left and KSH obv. had his huge projects (stars) that set him into Hallyu stardom.
Personally I prefer SJK’s acting to KSH but of course YAI is miles ahead of both of them.
Very true. YAI is the best. His varied expressions and mad acting skills, kinda hits the ball outta park every time.
I always see a cohort of fangirls of at least one K actor coming out to rave about their own fave when Koala’s blog is about another rising star. I saw this comical phenomenon happen to blogs about KSH, where LMH fans always snuck out to say LMH was better than KSH or the other way around. Now to my surprise, YAI’s fangirls all came out of the camp to say YAI outperforms and is better than SJK. LMAO. I actually expected KSH’s or LMH’s fan clubs would be on fire to defend their oppas’ Hallyu thrones. Instead, they are a bit quiet this time. LOL..I don’t know the points of these people comparing SJK with YAI when Koala’s blog did not mention the latter at all. They think they can really talk YAI all the way to Hallyu stardom????? hahahahaha. As one commenter said above, everything/everyone has its/one’s due time. Now it’s the season for SJK to shine. I’m sure when everything clicks together for YAI, his popularity will spread rapidly to the world outside S. Korea. There’re way more talented K actors, specifically among veterans, who happen to be only popular in S. Korea and their fame never went far off shore. So, YAI isn’t the only acting talent who many people think deserves international recognition.
I don’t see the comparison that’s being made here as something harmful. Nobody’s calling names so why are you so work up about it. I sense a little of dislike towards YAI from you and that’s fine. Everyone has their favorite so to voice their support for their favorite is absolutely fine. No one here is calling SJK a bad actor, some just thinks that a certain actor is more diverse in his art of acting. No one here is saying that SJK doesn’t deserve the fame. I think everyone is happy for his success. The two actors are friends in real life so I’m sure both are happy for each other success. YAI has mentioned how happy he was for SJK’s success and even filmed a cameo for DotS. SJK might have hit it big on the small screen but YAI is being recognize in the big screen for his role in Veteran so both are doing great in their respectful career. A little comparison isn’t going to hurt either one of them.
SJK deserves all this success he picked the right project to take right after millitary. As for KSH LMH YAI for the next couple of yrs will be tied up with millitary duties. A good chance for all upcomming young male candys to shine ?