Source: Naver
Credit: allkpop



The similarities and differences between reality and the North Korea portrayed in ‘The King 2 Hearts’

North Korean locals recently shared their thoughts on the similarities and differences between North Korea and the North Korea portrayed in MBC‘s new drama, ‘The King 2 Hearts‘.

On March 27th, a North Korean media outlet, DailyNK reported that a distributor from China, who provides pirated Korean drama CDs and DVDs to North Koreans, pointed out the similarities between the drama setting and North Korea. According to the distributor, ‘The King 2 Hearts’ does such a good job portraying modern North Korea that even the locals have a hard time differentiating whether the drama is a North Korean or South Korean film.



According to the distributor, the setting of ‘The King 2 Hearts’ is very similar to that of North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang. The Pyongyang subway seen in the drama looks almost exactly the same as the actual subway. Even the station’s attendants behave and look similar to those in North Korea. The propaganda pictures and slogans are also placed in similar locations, but are described to be more revolutionary in reality. Though strong slogans such as ‘Let’s crush the South’ are not seen in the drama, they are common in North Korea.

The similarities, however, end there, and the differences start. Ha Ji Won‘s accent is in the drama is reported to be actually a dialect from Yeonbyeon. Pyongyang residents and soldiers utilize a different intonation at the end of their sentences.



Regarding Ha Ji Won’s short skirt length, “If a North Korean female soldier went around wearing that in Pyongyang, everyone would say that she is slutty. She would be severely criticized back at base and may even be shot at,” the distributor explained.

In addition, the distributor revealed that once Korean shows are recorded onto DVDs illegally, it takes only about a week for the recorded DVDs to spread inside North Korea, proof of the rising popularity of South Korean dramas in even an isolated nation like North Korea. People can watch a drama that was aired in the South as early as the next day after its broadcast.

The distributor also shared that, “Security is so tight these days that sometimes I have to even put North Korean movie illustrations on the DVDs. Some people even save the DVD onto their hard drive instead.”








Source: Seoul NTN
Credit: allkpop

Lee Seung Gi comments on his ‘The King 2 Hearts’ role and that he misses his parents

On this week’s broadcast of MBC‘s ‘Good Day‘, singer and actor Lee Seung Gi talked about his role on ‘The King 2 Hearts‘, and expressed that he missed his parents while spending long hours filming the drama.

The star was interviewed on the set of ‘The King 2 Hearts’, and he talked about his difficult CBR training scene.

“It was no joke. I’ve never done it before so I thought ‘Let’s actually spread the chemicals in the air when we film’,” he said. “But the director told us, ‘If we do that, you’ll die. You won’t be able to act’, so we went with fake smoke.”

“I think that spreading fake smoke for 4 hours is equivalent to airing the chemicals for 2 minutes,” he continued, explaining how difficult the scene really was.

Lee Seung Gi also commented on his ‘scarf kiss’ scene with actress Ha Ji Won that’s been causing a lot of buzz lately.

“We weren’t very close at the time, so I thought, ‘Is this okay?’ I felt pretty shy about it, but the director and noona (Ha Ji Won) said that I was actually pretty aggressive.”

When asked what kind of son he is at home, he responded, “When I have a lot of work and am juggling a busy schedule, there are times I’ll complain and get annoyed easily like any other son.”

“While filming this drama, there was a week where I was barely at home because of work. Until then, I didn’t realize what it felt like to miss your parents, but I really missed my mom and dad during that week,” he continued.

Meanwhile, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research Korea, ’The King 2 Hearts’ which tells the story of a South Korean prince and a North Korean military official, drew in an impressive viewership of 16.5% thanks to both Lee Seung Gi & Ha Ji Won’s impassioned performances.

This post has been edited by Judie: Mar 30 2012, 11:18 PM