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| The bedroom of the character Chun Song-yi, played by actress Jun Ji-hyun in the "My Love From the Star," has been transplanted to a venue at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. The exhibition of the drama sets will be on display through Aug. 15. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Kim Ji-soo
281 Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 100-197.
That is the new address of the glamorous residences of Chun Song-yi and Do Min-jun featured in the drama "My Love From the Star."
Well, that is until Aug. 15.
As many viewers of what is likely to be this year's most popular Korean drama are aware, the sprawling homes featured in the drama were production sets. Even if fans wanted to get a glimpse, there was no way. So instead, fans flocked to places as far as Gapyeong in Gyeonggi Province to see the theme park "Petite France" where Chun and Do reunite and kiss, and also to Incheon University campus, where the scenes of Do and Chun as professor and top actress-student were filmed.
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| The secretive library of the character Do Min-jun, played by actor Kim Soo-hyun. |
The network SBS has brought the set to an exhibition in the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, located at the aforementioned address.
There is no "chimaek" or "chicken with beer" — the soul food of the heroine Chun which she eventually shared with her alien lover Do.
But the living room, the bedrooms, Do's grand two-story library, the kitchen, the dressing room and the elevator space are all there.
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| The view of the dining room and kitchen of Do's residence. |
"The drama is currently airing in Hong Kong and Taiwan to high ratings," said Kim Seon-dong, new project development manager at SBS, adding that they were hoping to bring in a large number of Chinese-speaking tourists who tuned into the drama.
The implausible 21-part love story about an alien who has lived 404 years, Do, played by actor Kim Soo-hyun and the 28-year-old top actress Chun played by Jun Ji-hyun has not "aired" in China. But Chinese viewers watched it en masse via online streaming sites, with it recording 2.5 billion hits. This large number of Chinese-speaking fans and the increasing number of Chinese visitors to Korea — over 4 million or one-third of all foreign tourists last year — are reasons that the company set up the exhibition.
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The types of accessories the stars used in the drama are on sale at the exhibition venue. |
In the 2,970 square-meter exhibition space, SBS and its affiliate companies including SBS A&T have installed the 600 square meter sets. The actual sets measured 720 square meters, but the smaller size doesn't diminish their originality or quality.
The plywood used at Dongdaemun is thicker — because there is no camera to enhance what may have been weaker or thinner elevator walls. The furniture, the interior goods are all the ones used on the real sets.
"With the sets transplanted and recreated, we are lengthening the cycle of content and also hoping that the Korean lifestyle and interior goods may get overseas exposure," said Kim Nam-jung, a project manager at SBS A&T, the set-maker affiliated with SBS.
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| A drawing of Do Min-jun adorns the walls between the sets with writing in both Korean and Chinese |
Visitors to the exhibition will not get full access because many of the interior goods are high-priced. For example, Do's kitchen that comprises a sophisticated grey-looking kitchenette is priced at around tens of millions of won, and the chairs at the nearby wooden dining table cost nearly one million each. Some 10 Henry Beguelin handbags in Chun's dressing room and in her bedroom are around several millions of won each.
Despite the limited access, the sets nevertheless succeed in reviving the dreamy, impossible love story between a top actress and a man with supernatural powers.
Do's wooden paneled two-storey library is completely filled with classics of the East and the West with befitting paraphernalia of antique typewriters and cameras. Chun's bedroom, up close, was as glamorous as it looked on the set with her wide-shaped white bed covered by an animal-stripe blanket. The palanquin, the Korean traditional see-saw and the cartoon cafe Jun frequented are also partially shown at the exhibition.
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| A view of Chun Song-yi's living room |
"I would suggest people look at Do's library as the space of the past, and Chun's living room, as the space of the present, as their love unfolds mostly there," said Kim Nam-jung.
Kim Soo-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun are not expected to make appearances during the exhibition because of their hectic schedules. The drama has catapulted the young actor Kim to super stardom in Asia while Jun's more established star glitters more brightly. The two combined raked in 50 billion won for filming commercials because of the popularity of the drama and their characters.
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is linked to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station on subway lines 2,4 and 5. The tickets are available on interpark at the price of 15,000 won.
