Korean drama series is pushed anew

Funding for a Korean television drama series is being pushed anew and this time the government is being asked for $500,000 in sponsorship.

Marianas Visitors Authority board officials tackled the matter during a meeting Wednesday but reached no decision on it due to “uncertainties.”

Board member JM Guerrero said he has reservations about the project due to its lack of details.

“I’ll be hesitant in approving it without seeing the specific terms regarding the airing and for how long. If we don’t get this clear, I don’t think we should approve it,” said Guerrero.

The MVA board had earlier approved the funding for the shooting of a Korean soap opera drama series in the CNMI.

This project was approved by the 14th Legislature through House Bill 14-358, which appropriated $800,000 for it. The bill was signed into law in September last year. The measure tapped the Managaha landing and user fee collections.

The funds will be used for the CNMI’s sponsorship of a 20-episode drama series that is expected to be shown throughout Asia.

Seoul-based production firm Castle in the Sky Entertainment will film 16 of the 20 episodes in the Northern Marianas.

The MVA board said Wednesday that the MVA did not receive the $800,000 funding from the Legislature. It said the new project is being pushed by the same producer but is now under a new name.

The board said that, based on information reaching the panel, the change was due to a fallout between the original proponents.

Board vice chair Marian Aldan Pierce said the proposed drama series would now include only five or six episodes featuring the CNMI, instead of 16 episodes as previously proposed.

She said, though, that the new proposal would carry the word “Saipan” in the title.

Board chair Jerry Tan said the soap opera would be an opportunity to stimulate the Korean market.

MVA board member B.K. Park said the drama series would be about a love story of a tour guide working on Saipan who gets assigned on Tinian and Rota.

MVA said that Korean TV drama programs are heavily exported to the Northern Marianas’ tourist markets in Asian countries. About 19 percent of the programs are syndicated in Japan, 24.5 percent in Taiwan, 18.6 percent in China, and 3.3 percent in Hong Kong.

There is also demand for Korean TV drama in other countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia.