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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 27, 2009

Los Angeles gets K-dramas now, too

By Jeff Chung

CENTENNIAL PARTY

The Korean National Association (Kook Min Hur) will be celebrating its 100th anniversary Banquet 6 p.m. Friday, March 6, at the Honolulu Country Club.

KNA, one of the state's oldest organizations, was formed among the first immigrants to Hawai'i to work the plantation fields. The nonprofit KNA has a long history of supporting the Korean independence movement, aiding local Korean immigrants and helping other community-oriented organizations in Hawai'i. For more information on the banquet, please call 591-8300.

Individual tickets start at $100 or $50 for members, and table sponsorships are also available.

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SBS International started broadcasting Korean programming in Los Angeles on Monday.

Television station KSCI will air SBS programming 9 to 11:30 p.m. daily, with news at 9, top rated Korean dramas at 10 and a variety show starting at 11.

KBFD TV in Hawai'i was the first free channel to broadcast SBS programming in the U.S. In most communities, the Korean language programming is only available via cable or satellite, which was the case in L.A. until this week.

Los Angeles has the largest population of Koreans in the country — estimated at 1 million — and SBS's presence there will give the network an opportunity to take the lead in market share and reach out to Koreans in Los Angeles. SBS K-dramas scheduled to run this week are "Terroir," "Celebrity Lover" and "Lure of Wife."

All the dramas include English subtitles provided by KBFD in Hawai'i, SBS International's primary source for translation and subtitling for its U.S. broadcasts. Los Angeles viewers will see a tag with "subtitles by KBFD" at the end of the drama.

SBS is one of South Korea's largest television networks and representatives recently visited Hawai'i to sponsor the fifth and last year at the LPGA SBS Open at Turtle Bay Resort.

As the title sponsor of SBS Open, the network gave many contributions to the Hawai'i community. During the tournament two weeks ago, SBS made a $50,000 donation to Hawai'i charities and a $200,000 donation to the University of Hawai'i law school to establish a program integrating Korean law. The donation can be considered more significant given that the slumping global economy has devalued Korean currency (won) against the U.S. dollar by nearly 50 percent just in a year.

THIS WEEK'S K-DRAMA SYNOPSES

'THE FAMILY OF HONOR'

Episodes 25 and 26

Tonight at 7:45 p.m.: Daeseong's ski resort opens for business. Young-in gets upset that Sam-wol has a 4.8 percent share in the company. Soo-young and Jin-ah confirm their feelings for each other. Gang-suk kisses Dan-ah; they both know their time together is almost over.

Tomorrow at 7:45 p.m.: Men of the Ha family do chores, including washing bed sheets. Tae-young tells Mal-soon the story of his life. Mal-soon finds out Tae-young has a son. Joo-jeong wants to sell the property her father left in her name. Gang-suk asks Dan-ah to watch the sunrise him.

'GLASS CASTLE'

Episodes 24 and 25

Sunday at 6:45 p.m.: Min-joo and Joon-song have a pleasant honeymoon and then go visit her family. Joon-hee's parents find out about her divorce and try to intervene. She disappears after a confrontation with her father.

Sunday at 7:45 p.m.: Joon-hee and her father confront each other about her divorce. Neither is willing to give in. Min-joo and Joon-song come back to a house in turmoil. Both are on Joon-hee's side. Joon-song keeps having nightmares that he's unwilling to talk about with Min-joo.

'TERROIR'

Episodes 11 and 12

Monday at 7:45 p.m.: Tae-min misunderstands Woo-ju's motive for going to see Mr. Yang, and she takes offense and leaves Terroir. Realizing that she had done it to help save Terroir, Tae-min drives to Cheongdo to find her. Meanwhile, Mr. Yang proceeds with his plan to open a wine restaurant and hires a famed restaurant consultant from Japan.

Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.: Takaki, a restaurant consultant hired by Mr. Yang, attempts to recruit key employees from Terroir. After Joy tells her that he is the one who set the fire that killed Tae-min's parents, Woo-ju develops even more sympathetic and romantic feelings toward Tae-min.

'CELEBRITY LOVER'

Episodes 9 and 10

Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.: Chul-su tries to break up with Eun-yong because of his feelings for Mari, but Eun-yong refuses to let him go. Mari faces challenges as rumors about the ghostwriting spread all over the Internet and tabloids. Mari is forced to renew her contract with her agency when the president promises Mari to take care of the problem, and she agrees not to see Chul-su again.

Thursday at 7:45 p.m.: Mari stays at Chul-su's place, while Mr. Suh pulls different tricks to cover up her ghostwriting rumor. But at the end, Mari confesses that the rumor is true. Mr. Suh becomes angry and exposes Chul-su as the ghostwriter and Mari's lover.