Bae Yong Joon

Date of Birth: 08/29/1972
Birth Place: Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Ethnicity: Korean

Bae Yong Joon, known to his fans as Yon-sama, with the "sama" being an honorific suffix, became world famous following the Winter Sonata craze in 2002, thereby making him the main star of the Korean wave.

Prior to Winter Sonata fame, he debuted in the Korean drama Salut d'Amore. He was dubbed the best star in the Korean drama field as he raised the television viewing rate over 60% with both Sunny Place of the Young in 1995 and First Love in 1996. First Love recorded the miraculous viewing rate of 37% for its first episode, an attestation on how tremendous his popularity was since his debut in 1994.

This hugely popular hallyu star was the first among Korean stars to have an orchid hybrid named after him at Singaporefs Botanic Gardens, an honor usually reserved for guests of state like Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana.

His popularity will get a deeper foothold into the international market with the start of a character merchandising business with Sanrio Co., Ltd., famous for Hello Kitty. Sanrio will use his images and Joon Bear to create character merchandise. With his character merchandises such as photo albums and figures, his two published books, and his works in commercial footages, television dramas and movies, he recently paid a total income tax of 9.7 billion won, a calculation based on his income from 2005, which totaled 32.9 billion won. His income is the highest of those in the local show business.

Bae will make his comeback with the Korean drama, Legend or also known as The Four Guardian Gods of the King Taewangsasingi, which will air May 2007.

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