Fukada to Star in Korea-Japan Co-production

Fukada Kyoko who at a mere 18 years old is scheduled to appear as the female lead in the first joint television production between Korea and Japan. Miss Fukado, who is one of the many emerging teen stars in Japan, will be featured in an MBC Production and Japan's TBS soap drama tentatively titled 'Friends'.
The sound of cameras busily clicking away to capture every smile and gesture of Fukada by the Japanese press at the production's press conference was a clear demonstration of the star's immense popularity. She became one of the most popular TV stars in Japan when she appeared as a high-school student suffering from AIDS in the 1998 Fuji TV's soap drama 'God, a Little More Time, Please'. She will play the role of a Japanese woman who falls in love with a Korean man in 'Friends.'

Fukada has never been to Korea, and says the only thing she knows about the country is that 'the food is delicious.' This is not surprising, considering Korean food has been rapidly gaining in popularity among Japanese youth ever since it became known that kimchi is good for those on a diet. 'I will have plenty of opportunities to sample Korean food when the shooting starts,' laughed Fukada at the presentation. Perhaps the older generation of Koreans, accustomed to a 'near yet distant' Korea-Japan relationship, will see her as an inappropriate daughter-in-law, but Fukada is typical of today's Japanese youth.

Fukada will play a similar role as her previous TV characters in the upcoming soap drama, although the draft TBS has proposed to MBC has not yet been finalized. She should enjoy the same considerable popularity in Korea as she did in Japan when she played the female lead in 'Love Letter' and 'Railway Worker', if the love between the two leading characters is portrayed realistically.