Lee Min Ho will begin the Lunar New Year in China, starring in a special New Year's program. And he may be spending more of 2014 in that country.
He will appear on the biggest televised New Year's celebration on Chinese TV. The show will feature dozens of live musical performances and has an expected audience of about 750,000. Lee Min Ho is the first Korean star to be invited to appear on this celebration show and he will be the first star to perform a song in Korean.
The actor will sing the theme song of the drama "Boys Over Flowers," "Jung Bi Deuk Yi."
One reason the actor will spend more time in China in the coming year is that his agency, Starhaus Entertainment, plans to have a stronger presence there. Starhaus will continue to partner with the Chinese entertainment company Huayi Brothers to find ways to provide more opportunities for Chinese fans to see and meet the actor.
Recently on "TV Report," a Starhaus Entertainment representative said that the agency's relationship with Huayi Brothers dates back to a Chinese concert given by Lee Min Ho in 2009.
"Starhaus China and Huayi Brothers have worked well together in the past and plan to continue their friendly business relationship," said the Starhaus representative.
Lee Min Ho is one of the most popular Korean actors in China. The actor first became popular there after his role as spoiled heir Gu Joon Pyo in the drama "Boys Over Flowers." His popularity grew when the drama "City Hunter" was aired there and continued to escalate after his most recent drama "The Heirs" was shown there.
"The Heirs" reached 160 million hits on the Chinese video streaming website, Youku.com, and its success prompted a Chinese remake of the drama.
Lee Min Ho is one of the most searched male stars in China, ranking third on China's biggest portal site Baidu. The actor now has more than 10 million followers on his Weibo account and he is sought after as a model for advertisements. He is now the new face of Taobao, China's biggest online market.
Earlier this month Lee Min Ho received the Most Popular Asian Star Award during an awards ceremony in Suzhou, China. The Shanghai Media Group hosted the awards and the actor was the only foreign star that was recognized.
This year the actor will appear in the film "Gangnam Blues."
