Shibbal Sechie!

Boys Over Flowers star Jang Ja-yeon has killed herself, committing suicide last Saturday on 7th March 2009. Her body was found hanging from a stairwell by her sister in the evening and to date everybody is asking why did Jang Ja-yeon kill herself and commit suicide just when her career seemed to be on the brink of breaking out this year?

All the usual reasons and plausible explanations have surfaced to help explain why Jang Ja-yeon might have chosen to take her own life. The pretty Korean star of Boys Over Flowers, the hit drama serial showing on TV now in the country based on the hit Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango, was set to be one of the breakout stars in 2009 with a few movies set to debut this year. Jang Ja-yeon was said to have run-ins and trouble with her management agency, tough schedule and the requisite Korean show business disease – depression. Her sister mentioned that Ja-yeon wanted to die due to all the pressure she was feeling and put under.

While being under the media glare and spotlight will undoubtedly bring its stress and pressure, and stars should learn how to handle it properly, perhaps their management agencies should also do their part by not putting them under undue pressure and help them to cope with the work and schedules. On hindsight it might have been good to help her get help for the depression but then pushing her to work even harder at the same time just doesn’t help.

One wonders how many more Korean stars will choose to end their lives this year?

I can still remember this K-drama What Happened in Bali very vividly from many years back. It was my first Korean drama DVD boxed set that I bought… without subtitles. I couldn’t understand or speak Korean at that time, but my pretty but slightly silly Korean pal recommended that I buy What Happened in Bali as she thought it was an excellent series. She promptly forgot to check if there were subtitles and I was just as silly to have bought it without checking it myself either.

I still have it sitting at home, but since then I’ve picked up the language sufficiently well to understand it in parts. I also went ahead and bought a new set with English subtitles so that I could go ahead and finish the whole series understanding perfectly why they were crying and looking like the end of the world was upon them.

What Happened in Bali not only inspired me to pick up the Korean language, but I also fell in love with the location where the drama was shot. It was Bali, one of the offshore islands in Indonesia. Famous for its surf, sand and batik shirts, I made my way there about a year after watching it. God, the trip was quite tiring but the beautiful white sandy beaches more than made up for it. I had a great time surfing as well. The waves were awesome. The Balinese people were also very friendly and welcoming to visitors. I was fascinated by their local architecture and swore to myself that I would retire there sometime in the future. The resort I stayed in was also excellent, great service staff, beautiful rooms and some of the most beautiful Bali custom made shades we’ve seen this side of the world.

I’ve heard that many Koreans flock to Bali for the same reasons but wonder if just as many are leaving now that the Korean won has depreciated to just about being worth nothing. Okay, that was exaggerating things a little, but I do hope that Korean drama DVD sets are much cheaper now because of the cheaper won, and also that Soh Nyuh Shi Dae will make an appearance in a concert here so that I can cheer them on!