Hah, wow, I always forget he was in Hwang Jini. I had to stop and think about it when I read that sentence. Was barely recognizeable in the facial hair.

"i also had no idea that there was a ‘a wind of dislike’ from some of the Chinese toward the Koreans."

Yeah, it's pretty strong. Just overall backlash to Hallyu and netizen claims that Confucius was really Korean and that "name Chinese tradition" really originated from Korea. And, yes, China has a big netizen community too.

But, yeah, Korea has big "beef" with the US too. Literally.

if someone in china is throwing money at a co-production, there must still be hallyu fans left in china :) yeah heard about all the netizen feud, which got a lot of legpower from supposed historical inaccuracy of the saeguk. the "hate" has taken on so many lives with other busybodies fanning the fire for their own different interests (e.g. the press trying to sell more papers is only one of the interest group), & even parodies like "michael phelps is claimed to be korean" to mock the whole feud & the 2 sides :P

back to K-drama, chae rim's foray into the coproductions is most impressive. she actually outacted many of her leading men & did quite convincing kung fu!

"if someone in china is throwing money at a co-production, there must still be hallyu fans left in china"

Indeed there is. Backlash against Korean pop culture is strongest in China, but at the same time, it is because Korea pop culture has been commercially most successful in China. It is natural give-and-take. I can enjoy Jumong ironically, just like Brits enjoy Star Wars ironically. It's fun to root against the Han Empire, because it makes you feel really proud how big and bad the Han were in East Asia. :D

"the “hate” has taken on so many lives with other busybodies fanning the fire for their own different interests"

Yeah, imagine Popseoul with millions of people. (Or Youtube, when anonymous Koreans and Japanese psuedo-nationalists go at it. FUN!!) That's kinda what it's like on both sides.

"The NAmerican China crowd are discovering and lapping up old and new Kdramas as frantically as these dramas are being released by the various sources here."

Yeah, pretty much. In many big stores, the Korean drama section will be almost as large as the Chinese drama section. Both Yi San and Iljimae are really, really popular right now. One thing I notice is that the Korean Americans really don't hanker for the sageuks (favoring of course the trendy rom-coms), whereas the Chinese viewers lap up the big name sageuks.

What ever did happen to Kim Jae Won in the last 2 years?

I remember one of the funnier feuds was based on the Chinese dubbing of Jumong.

One of the beefs was "the translation of the word 'Nation' (in reference to Goguryeo) to 'Tribe', and the translation of the Han Dynasty to the 'Heavenly Dynasty' :)

I think k-dramas are still really popular in Taiwan. Except they're all dubbed (but Taiwan dubbing is really good). Also, it's not just the typical 16 episode ones, but also the really long 50+ ones.

If he not fluent in Chinese it is not a good idea to struggle with the language and try to act, he should just give his all to his acting, I mean 50 episode his killer smile not going to get him all the way through it if he not acting well.
I guess there always going to be negatives to the so call Korea wave, even more so after the Olympic Games and the national pride that raised. There are Koreans who have done well there and gotten kind of adopted, like Jang Nara, who after 4 years still struggles with the language but she has turned that to her advantage so her baby Chinese talk appeals to her fans there.
As Kim Jae-won is a school mate of hers hope she helps him out it if need it, I sure she will.

"If he not fluent in Chinese it is not a good idea to struggle with the language and try to act, he should just give his all to his acting,"

Yeah, it's really not a big deal because they'll just dub his voice. Ain't no thing but a chicken wing.

"I think k-dramas are still really popular in Taiwan."

Yeah, I caught the Taiwanese dub of Coffee Prince on TV a few months ago. Eun Chan sounded very, very girly.

"Kdrama is so popular in Taiwan they’re trying to imitate it. It’s just a theory of mine, but Smile Pasta & Full House, anyone?"

I think TW trendies tend to stay somewhere in a happy middle between story-oriented J-dramas (i.e. manga adaptations and idol singers) and screwball/character-based K-dramas (soapy.) TW is maybe now the biggest exponent of idol pop culture for "Sino Asia."

Shows like Time of Dog and Wolf, East of Eden, Hong Gil Dong, and Iljimae though do fit certain HW and TW-drama modes, and they seem created with that market in mind too. Not to rehash Iljimae (doing great in China), but its style of humor is on par with the broad-as-the-sky slapstick you see in the lighter historical stuff.

"that sense of slapstick has long been a staple of the Hong sisters’ writing, and (to their detriment, I think) been growing steadily more pervasive with each successive drama."

Mmm! I think you're definitely right about that. Hong Sisters dramas are kinda blind spot for me (uhhh haven't seen My Girl yet.. . ), but I really liked the writing and story planning of HGD. Which Hong Sisters drama should I start?

@Sevenses

"That’s why I avoid dubs if I can (esp TW because I can’t stand the accent). Nothing beats the language it was supposed to be in. Yay for subbing! Kdrama is so popular in Taiwan they’re trying to imitate it. It’s just a theory of mine, but Smile Pasta & Full House, anyone?"

Yeah, I avoid dubbed dramas like the plague too. I often find that wrong voice actor just changes the whole character and feel of the drama. Some are tolerable but others are just so wrong for the character, it's plain jarring. Like Eun Chan in the chinese dubbed version sounded too girly! One rare occasion where I actually preferred the dubbed version to the original version was All About Eve. The voice dubber for Chaerim in AAE actually enhanced my liking of her. Heh. Chaerim's voice has a lower register while the dubber's voice was sweeter and more childlike, which fitted the character of Sunmi in AAE better.

@javabeans

"Which isn’t to say that HGD didn’t want to capitalize on pan-Asian interest; I just don’t think its style was a particular bid to achieving that end. (In fact, I’d say it had its fair share of oversimplified “China bad” elements that were wince-worthy in their bias.)"

I noticed the "China bad" elements in HGD too and wasn't impressed. Chinese officials are always painted as corrupt, greedy and stupid eh? One of the many reasons why I was not particularly fond of HGD. :-/

"Kdrama is so popular in Taiwan they’re trying to imitate it. It’s just a theory of mine, but Smile Pasta & Full House, anyone?"

Yeah, also Romantic Princess and Goong. Taiwan is copying Korea copying Japan copying Taiwan and it goes round and round. :)

While I'm sure there always some competition between the different East Asian countries, I'm pretty sure Kim Jae Won is more referring to the fact that China is less "pro-Korean-drama" now. Some people have grown less interested in the Korean Wave, and the Chinese government itself is trying to encourage local productions instead of Korean import dramas because of the previous insane popularity (where Korean dramas were dominating).

Love Kim Jae Won's acting so no matter where he does his work, I'll be waiting to watch. Hope this latest will be a HUGE success so he'll continue to land major roles!! Miss you, KJW!!