Go to contents

Mexican Fans Clamor for Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook to Visit Mexico

Mexican Fans Clamor for Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook to Visit Mexico

Posted September. 12, 2005 07:02,   

한국어

Around 30 Mexican female fans of the Korean pop stars Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook staged an unusual protest in front of a hotel in Mexico City where President Roh Moo-hyun was staying on the afternoon of September 10 (local time).

During their one hour-long protest, they chanted, “Oh, go for it, Korea” in poor Korean, holding up large pictures of the two stars.

“Mr. President, we want Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook to visit Mexico,” they said.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Man-soo said that the president answered, “Ok” and waved his hands when he ran into them on his way out of the hotel.

The Korean embassy in Mexico explained, “Membership in Korean pop icon fan clubs in Mexico numbers approximately 3,500.” adding, “After soap operas starring the two were aired in Mexico, Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, has been booming here.”

In particular, membership in the Jang Dong-gun fan club has surged after “TaeGukGi” starring the female heartthrob was screened with the Mexican title of “Hermandad De Guerra” (Brothers in the war).

Mexiquense, a Mexican public broadcasting network, aired Korean soap operas such as “Star in My Heart” (starring Ahn Jae-wook) and “All About Eve” (starring Jang Dong-gun) several times from October 2002 to April last year. It also started to show a Spanish dubbed version of “Winter Sonata,” a KBS smash hit soap opera, beginning the evening of September 8.



Yeon-Wook Jung jyw11@donga.com