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Winter Sonata Drama Tour in Seoul

The success of these and other Japanese works in Korea is raising concerns that Japanese pop culture could once again dominate Korea.

Experts say the Korean entertainment industry's dependence on Japanese pop culture will increase because the Japanese novel and manga markets are popular around the world. According to the Korean Publishing Research Institute, as of 2006 the size of the Korean novel market was no more than W203 billion, while that of Japanese market stood at W724.3 billion. The gap for the manga markets was even greater, with the Japanese market (W4 trillion) some 40 times bigger than the Korean market (W124.2 billion).

Bae Won-keun, a researcher at the KPRI, says it is a shame that Korean entertainment companies scramble to snap up Japanese stories for quick returns rather than working to strengthen their creative power. "The entertainment industry should make more effort to cultivate young writers with fresh ideas," he adds.

THE Melbourne International Film Festival has it all: dramas involving officials from foreign governments, larger than life characters sticking to matters of principles whatever the consequences and the struggles for liberation.

documentary about Rebiya Kadeer

subsequently three Chinese films were withdrawn.

Jia Zhangke and Zhao Liang, had withdrawn their films from the festival in protest at the inclusion of a documentary about Rebiya Kadeer, leader of the World Uygur Congress (WUC), which the Chinese believed to be behind the deadly July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

had attracted more than 4,000 comments. Almost all of the postings were in support of the two directors.

Only a couple said Jia was trying to earn publicity, but they were immediately criticized by others, defending Jia as a talented director who had always been low-key .

CHINA Investment Corporation, the $US200billion ($243bn) state-run sovereign wealth fund, is planning to invest in several Western and Asian media funds.

The investments could give the Chinese government a direct stake in a rich variety of media content -- from South Korean television dramas and Japanese game shows to Hollywood blockbusters and globally franchised animation series.

oday, in China, South Korean missionaries are bringing Christianity with an Asian face. South Korean movies and dramas about urban professionals in Seoul, though not overtly political, present images of modern lives centering on individual happiness and sophisticated consumerism.

South Korea's television soap operas are finding big audiences overseas, including here in the Bay Area, as well as other major American cities with large Asian populations.

South Korean studios invested heavily in state—of—the—art production facilities, embodying the latest digital technology. Today, many Japanese films are shot in Korea, to take advantage of lower costs and better facilities there. And studio tours for tourists have become a big business.