By Kim Ji-soo
Ethnic Koreans in Japan will hold a Korean drama and film festival, as a means to defreeze the chill in relations between the two countries.
The World-Okta’sTokyo branch, in association with an ethnic Korean residents’ groups, will host the “First Shinokubo Drama and Film Festival” for 10 days starting March 21.
The Korean embassy and the Korean Cultural Center in Tokyo have volunteered to assist in the event.
The festival was planned to jumpstart sagging sales at Shinokubo’s Korea Town, the World-Okta’s Tokyo branch said.
A total of 10 Korean films and five televisions dramas or more are expected to be screened during the festival. The films will be screened at Studio O while the television dramas will be shown at concert venues or large-sized cafes.
The preparatory committee was launched last June, and the Korean film “Miracle in Cell No. 7” was screened.
Actor Kim Si-hoo, who has starred in the film “Sunny” and the KBS television drama “Love Rain,” has been named as the festival’s goodwill ambassador.
Statistics put the number of ethnic Koreans residingin Japan at several tens of thousands.