[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@]
South Korea actor Song Il-gook will come back to Japanese fans, years after televisions there blurred his name for his involvement in a thorny territorial dispute.
He now acts as a great 15th-century scientist in "Jang Yeong-sil," a KBS historical television series. KBS said it has clinched a deal to export the uncompleted series to Japan and 11 other countries.
Song, who is the grandson of Kim Jwa-jin, a famous fighter for Korea's independence from Japan's colonial rule, had starred in historical dramas such as "Jumong Emperor of the Sea" as well as in "A Man Called God".
But the airing of "A Man Called God" on Japanese televisions was cancelled abruptly after he took part in an event crossing the sea from Dokdo by swimming to celebrate the anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan in 2012.
The event came at the height of a territorial row over ownership of the sparsely populated islets, known as Takeshima in Japan, in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
At that time, Japan's deputy foreign minister said: "I'm sorry but Song Il-gook won't be able to come to Japan going forward. That's Japan's national sentiment."
The names of Song's three triplet sons are called Daehan, Minguk, and Manse. (Hurrah!, the Republic of Korea).
South Korea's popular artists and stars should sometimes give up their activities in Japan once they are stigmatized by the Japanese government or right-wing extremists.
Ties between the two Asian neighbours have been in the doldrums for years, with South Korea insisting that Japan should apologize and make amends for abuses during its 1910-45 rule over the Korean peninsula.
In particular, Seoul wants Tokyo to address the issue of Korean women forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels. Japan insists the issue of the so-called "comfort women" was settled in a 1965 agreement that restored diplomatic ties.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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