The Hawaii International Film Festival will celebrate its 28th year next month.

No other local organization has been as successful in bringing in international stars to Hawai'i, especially South Korean celebrities whom many local fans reach out to. HIFF was one of the first film festivals to invite Korean films into its program 28 years ago. Today, HIFF has the best films from South Korea, along with a long list of drama and film megastars.

Korean dramas captured international interest more than five years ago and are responsible for high TV ratings in Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan. Soon after, the Korean drama stars were in high demand in Asia, making appearances in foreign markets for a fee in excess of $500,000, which didn't include travel and hospitality. Korean cinema followed the hallyu (Korean wave) craze with successful films that also starred drama celebrities.

If you were to compare the list of Korean celebrities who have visited HIFF to other world-class festivals, you would see that HIFF's success is right on par with the others.

In the almost 10 years I've been involved with HIFF, the following stars have attended our festival in Hawai'i:

In fall 2002, Song Kang Ho came for the opening night of the film "YMCA Baseball Team." Song was also in big box-office hits such as "The Host, Memories of Murder," "JSA" and most recently, "The Good, the Bad and the Weird."

In 2005, Lee Byung Hun ("Bittersweet Life," "All In," "Beautiful Days," "I Come With the Rain," "The Good, the Bad and the Weird" and "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra") accompanied Lee Ki Woo of "Sad Movie" for the opening night of Lee's film.

In 2006, Ha Ji Won ("What Happened in Bali," "Phone," "Damo," "Hwang Jin-i," "Miracle of 1st Street" and "Secret") was here for her film, "Duelist." Also that year, Shin Hyun Joon ("Stairway to Heaven," "Marrying the Mafia," "Barefoot Gi-bong" and "Shadowless Sword") attended with comedian/singer Tak Jae-hoon.

In spring 2007, actor Oh Ji Ho visited the HIFF Spring Fling for his film "My Wife is a Gangster 3."

In fall 2007, Lee Jun Ki ("The King" and "The Clown" and "Iljimae") along with Ju Jin Mo ("Musa the Warrior," "Bichunmoo" and "Fashion 70s") also came to HIFF.

A Korean megastar will be attending a film screening at the 28th Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival next month, too, along with screenings of all the top movies from South Korea. I had invited this particular star to Hawai'i three years ago but because he was in Japan for the release of another film, he was unable to attend. Another interesting piece of trivia about this star is that Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann met him at the Pusan International Film Festival two years ago. The star's name will be released in a week.

THIS WEEK'S K-DRAMA SYNOPSES

'HAPPINESS'

Episode 35 and 36

Tonight at 6:45: Ji-sook is blackmailed by Ha-kyong and is forced to sign an adoption agreement for Sa-rang. Sang-wook is pronounced innocent of all charges regarding the stock scam. Cheol-gon and Mrs. Ahn break up over Jun-young's conversation with Ms. Ahn.

Tonight at 7:45: Cheol-gon and Ms. Ahn have a secret rendezvous. Without Eda's knowledge, Kang-suk arrives in Seoul to talk to her mother.

'BEST CHEF'

Episodes 11 and 12

Tomorrow at 7:45 p.m.: The first round of the competition is a dead-locked battle between Woonam and Daejin Distribution. Woonam beats Daejin with an excellent grade. However, blood clots are found in Woonam's cow, which suffered severe stress and trauma from harsh treatment. Daejin Distribution wins the first round, and Woonam barely hangs on in eighth place.

Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.: Pyun-soo shows amazing knife work and takes the lead, but the wound on his hand proves too much to continue butchering. He stabs his leg by mistake, and suffers extreme blood loss. But he finishes butchering, then falls. Although he finished last in time, his perfect butchering had no deductions and makes the cut for the third round.

'WORKING MOM'

Episodes 3 and 4

Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.: To prevent Jae-sung and Eun-ji from having an adulterous affair, Jae-sung's father-in-law and Eun-ji's mother agree to pretend that they are dating. And both Eun-ji and Ga-young are aghast at the thought of possibly becoming stepsisters.

Thursday at 7:45 p.m.: In order to prevent her mother from marrying Ga-young's father, Eun-ji tries to seduce Jae-sung.

'DAYS OF INNOCENCE'

Episodes 15 and 16 (final episode)

Friday at 7:45 p.m.: Tae-seok decides to leave for America and asks his father to leave with him. Dong-hwa's company stabilizes, Dong-hwa is busy with work, and Ji-yoon feels neglected.

Saturday at 7:45 p.m.: Confused about her own feelings, Ji-yoon is conflicted till the very end. To avoid another betrayal by his best friend, Dong-hwa pulls the trigger.

Jeff Chung is general manager of KBFD TV, which televises Korean dramas with English subtitles in Hawai'i. Reach him for comment at 521-8066 or jeffchung@kbfd.com.