(China Daily) South Korean actor Song Joong-ki, 32, and actress Song Hye-kyo, 35, who co-starred in mega-hit television series Descendants of the Sun, announced on Wednesday that they will tie the knot. The wedding is scheduled to take place on Oct 31, according to South Korean news portal Naver.
"Marriage is not something just between two people. It involves family and meeting with family members, and is a step that's to be taken with care," the pair said through their management companies.
Descendants of the Sun centers on the relationship between a captain of South Korean Special Forces unit, played by Song Joong-ki, and a surgeon, played by Song Hye-kyo. The 16-episode series owes its success not just to the good looks of its cast, but to its fast-paced plot (something that's quite rare in a South Korean market full of sluggish melodramas) and its annotation of "heavier" topics, including war, peacekeeping and meaning of life.
The Song duo, as the leading actor and actress are known, created sparkling chemistry on-screen, a chemistry so intense and real that voices calling for the duo to be together in real life kept sprouting among fans of the series.
The Song duo denied all such rumors in the past even as tabloids speculated that their on-screen romance was truly carried on off-screen. They were photographed dinning together in the US in March last year, and visiting Bali in Indonesia last month, but representatives of both actors denied all romantic connections between the two prior to the official announcement of their marriage.
Descendants of the Sun, which aired from February 24 to April 14, 2016, was a major hit in South Korea where it drew a peak audience viewership of 38.8 percent. As the trend goes, Descendants of the Sun also rode the wind the waves of hallyu, a term that describes the spread of South Korean culture abroad, and made its way to China.
Descendants of the Sun has been viewed in China more than 4.61 billion times on IQiyi, one of China's major video streaming websites that bought the right to broadcast the show, so far.
Consequently, popularity of the Song duo skyrocketed not just in China but throughout Asia, a first for actor Song Joong-ki, who was not so well-known abroad prior to Descendants, but not something new to actress Song Hye-kyo, who has previously rode the hallyu wave several times for starring in megahits Autumn in My Heart (2000) and Full House (2004).
Descendants of the Sun won Popularity and Global Star Awards and Grand Prize in Television at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards, a top recognition in South Korea for achievements film, television and theater.
Source: China Daily