Korean TV show shot in Marianas to be syndicated

The Korean television show featuring Saipan, Tinian, and Rota is expected to enter syndication soon, following its massive success in South Korea.

Starmax Fly Entertainment Co. Ltd., which produced the show “Foolish My Love,” is getting offers from various networks interested in buying rights to air the show in Asia and North America.

“We are debating right now which broadcasting company to work with. But we expect to enter syndication before the end of the year,” Starmax chief executive officer and president Sin Byung Chul told the Saipan Tribune in an interview Saturday night.

Starmax is looking at deals with companies from Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United States.

“Foolish My Love” is a 20-episode drama series partly filmed in the Northern Marianas. The show debuted at 9pm, Aug. 11, 2006, on Korea’s SBS channel, one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks.

The CNMI government provided $500,000 sponsorship money for the production. In addition, local businesses offered in-kind support such as free hotel accommodation, ground transportation, meals, and special discounts for equipment and other services for the filming cast and crew.

Asiana Airlines also sponsored airline tickets worth $78,000 for almost 100 cast and crew members who came to shoot some scenes in the islands in June 2006.

According to Sin, “Foolish My Love” broke television viewership records in South Korea, capturing about 14 million viewers every Friday night.

“Even the show’s reruns are doing better than new shows of the same genre,” he said.

The show is now available on video. The production company’s latest project is an English dubbed version of the show.

Sin also said that the drama series changed the Korean people’s perception of Saipan. “Before, Korean people thought Saipan was just another island. They all used to go to Guam. But that is slowly changing. Now, many people think Saipan is paradise, a fantastic place,” he said.

Korean arrivals to the CNMI went up by 24 percent in fiscal year 2006.

The Marianas Visitors Authority attributed this mainly to the success of the show. Tour agents in Korea are now offering a “Foolish My Love” tour package, which includes visits to shooting locations used on the show.

Ultimately, however, the show can only do so much in promoting the islands as a tourist destination, Sin said.

“It doesn’t matter how well the program does. If the CNMI serves as a good host to its visitors, then it can get more people to come here,” he said.

MVA marketing manager Wayne Pangelinan said that the show’s success has other benefits, besides exposure in the Korean market. He said that the relationship between the CNMI and Starmax should prompt many other production companies to consider the Northern Marianas as a filming destination.

Sin came to Saipan with some members of the “Foolish My Love” cast and crew, including writer Jeong Ji Woo, director Shin Youn Seop, and actors Kim Yu Seok, Park Sang Min, and Kim Ji Young.

MVA hosted a dinner for the group at World Resort Saipan on Saturday night, and presented an appreciation plaque or certificate to each member of the group.

The cast and crew also presented plaques to MVA officials, including board member and World Resort general manager B.K. Park and MVA managing director Perry Tenorio, as well as to Asiana Airlines Saipan manager Kim Kwang Joong.