CULTURE LINE

Song Kang-ho named favorite actor

Song Kang-ho

Actor Song Kang-ho has been chosen as Korea’s favorite actor, according to a recent survey of moviegoers conducted by local theater chain giant CJ CGV.

The company said Tuesday that 28.4 percent of 925 theatergoers surveyed, who saw movies at least two times last year, voted Song the most likeable actor. The survey was conducted from Jan. 23-Feb. 5 with a confidence level of 95 percent and a sampling error of plus or minus 3.22 percent.

The 48-year-old actor was followed in the popularity ranking by actors Hwang Jung-min, Ha Jung-woo, Choi Min-sik, Kang Dong-won and Ryu Seung-ryong.

Actress Ha Ji-won was the sole female listed in the top 15, placing 13th, while Kim Soo-hyun, who ranked 10th, was the only male actor in his 20s to find his way toward the top of the list.

Song, who started his acting career as a stage actor in 1991, made his big screen debut in 1996 playing a small role in director Hong Sang-soo’s debut film, “The Day a Pig Fell into the Well.”

Song rose to stardom after taking a starring role in top director Park Chan-wook’s 2000 film “Joint Security Area/JSA,” and has emerged as one of the country’s most influential actors in the 21th century with a slew of hits, including “Memories of Murder” (2003), “The Host” (2006), “Secret Sunshine” (2007) and “Secret Reunion” (2009).

In 2013, Song had a prolific year, taking leading roles in three smash-hit films, including “The Attorney,” “The Face Reader” and “Snowpiercer.”

Song will return to the big screen in a historical drama, “The Throne,” later this year.

Lee Young-ae to make acting comeback

Lee Young-ae, right, and her daughter pose at a photo session in this file photo. / Yonhap

Actress Lee Young-ae will make a comeback to the small screen as Shin Saimdang (1504-1551), the noted artist, poet and mother of Confucian scholar Yulgok.

The drama production company Group Eight said Wednesday they have confirmed Lee’s appearance in the upcoming drama “Saimdang, the Herstory.” It has been 11 years since Lee last made an appearance in a television drama.

“We have tentatively set air dates for early next year,” a Group Eight official said. “It’s not an exaggeration to say we’ve had Lee in mind since the production’s earliest stages. Her elegance seemed perfectly fitting for the role of Shin Saimdang.”

Lee will take on the role of both Shin Saimdang and a modern day college lecturer. The plot will shift back and forth between the 16th century and modern day Korea to uncover the mysteries surrounding Shin Saimdang’s diary and the painting “Portrait of a Beauty” by Shin Yun-bok (1758-?).

Lee’s last dramatic appearance was in 2004 with MBC’s “Daejanggeum.” Her last acting gig was in 2005 in the the film “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.”

The drama will be filmed in its entirety this year, and possibly be released simultaneously in China.

Joseon royal seal returns on April 1

"Deokjong Eobo"

The "Deokjong Eobo," a royal seal of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), will be officially returned to Korea from the United States on April 1.

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) announced Wednesday that the seal, which was part of the Seattle Art Museum's collection, will be donated to CHA at a ceremony at the National Palace Museum of Korea in downtown Seoul. Seattle Art Museum director Kimerly Rorschach and Frank S. Bayley, grandson of the donor Thomas D. Stimson and a representative of the surviving family, will attend the ceremony.

Deokjong (1438-1457) was a crown prince of Joseon's seventh king, Sejo,, but he died at the age of 19 and did not become king. Deokjong's son and Joseon's ninth king, Seongjong, ordered the making of the turtle-shaped seal to honor his father posthumously.

According to historical documents during Japanese colonial rule (1910-45), the seal was stored in the Jongmyo Shrine, a place to worship the deceased Joseon monarchs until 1943. It was later acquired by an American collector in New York in 1962 and he donated it to the Seattle Art Museum the following year.

The CHA and the Seattle-based art institution began negotiations in July 2014 and agreed to its return in the form of a donation last November.