"A Jewel In the Palace" Concerts to Be Held in Korea, Japan

Update : Mar 23, 2006 KST 17:00

Concerts featuring a classical arrangement of the theme music of the TV drama "A Jewel in the Palace" (Daejanggeum) will be given in Japan and Korea. It is unprecedented for the theme music of a soap opera to be rearranged as a repertoire for classical music concerts.

The concerts aim to attract more foreign tourists to this country, making the most of "A Jewel in the Palace," which has been winning Asia-wide popularity as a key hallyu program.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korea National Tourism Organization on Mar. 23, the "Daejanggeum Classic" will premiere at the Prefectural Hall of Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo, Japan on May 18. For the concert, which will be given for free, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will play songs from "A Jewel in the Palace," including "Onara," based on its own reinterpretation of the drama’s music.

The ministry and the KNTO decided to introduce the classical version of the music of "A Jewel in the Palace," backed up by a presentation of video images, in hopes of providing Japanese fans with a fresh feeling of the drama and a motivation to visit Korea, considering the high popularity of the drama in Japan. The KNTO is planning to have the actors and actresses of the drama attending the upcoming concert in Japan.

A similar "Daejanggeum Classic" concert will be also given at the International Convention Center in Jeju on Jun. 24. The concert in Jeju will be given for free for tourists from various Asian countries, just as in Kanagawa.

Chung Jin-soo, chief of the KNTO’s Strategic Product Development Team, said, "We previously succeeded in Japan with a classical concert featuring another hit TV drama ‘Winter Sonata.’ The upcoming concert will present Japanese and other Asian fans with a classical version of traditional Korean music, including ‘Onara.’ We expect to give them a fresh feeling about Korea." In the second half of this year, the "Daejanggeum Classic" concert will likely be given also in other Asian regions, such as Thailand and China, where "A Jewel in the Palace" has won widespread popularity.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will organize a task force in cooperation with the KNTO and the Korea Foundation for Asian Cultural Exchange to keep developing tourist programs based on pop culture, such as this latest classical concert of "A Jewel in the Palace."

Source: http://english.kbs.co.kr/society/news/1388322_11773.html