Song Ji-hyo, who became a haenyeo, entered the 英 BBC..JTBC XBBC's first co-production 'Song Ji-hyo's Haenyeo Adventure' launch
Oct 23, 2024
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BBC Studios and JTBC have announced that they will co-produce 'Deep Dive Korea: Song Ji-hyo's Haenyeo Adventure' to be aired on JTBC and BBC Earth Asia today. This is the first time that the two companies will work together on the original production and the first co-production by BBC Studios Asia in Korea.
Song Ji-hyo's appearance on the biggest challenge of her life is depicted with outstanding visual beauty throughout the three episodes. It is to experience real haenyeo materials, including free diving, with legendary female haenyeo. Song Ji-hyo enters their world feeling a special bond with these haenyeo.
Haenyeo are great women who have kept the precious tradition that has been passed down for at least 400 years, and even women in their 80s dive 20 meters deep without oxygen masks or advanced equipment every day to collect seafood for their families and livelihoods.
'Deep Dive Korea: Song Ji-hyo's Haenyeo Adventure' features Song Ji-hyo's special journey of challenging the high-intensity training needed to become a legendary Korean haenyeo. Song Ji-hyo had a special interest in marine activities thanks to her mother, who was a swimmer, and her aunt, who was a former haenyeo. Most haenyeo start training in the sea around the age of eight, but Song Ji-hyo is in her 40s and has to compress the 30-year training process within a month. She will take on this challenge, which requires not only physical training but also mental preparation, showing her new side and hidden side of Korea in the process.
Song Ji-hyo experiences the skills of haenyeo firsthand through deep exchanges with the haenyeo community and forms a true bond with them. Through this, viewers can get closer to the culture and ancient wisdom of the legendary haenyeo. Song Ji-hyo will go underwater with the haenyeo to show their amazing talents firsthand, and vividly convey the phenomenal scenery of Jeju Island, which was selected as one of the seven natural landscapes in the world, to viewers through the camera. The island is home to 368 ores and more than 160 magnificent underground lava caves.
Song Ji-hyo has been loved by many across Asia for her warm and gritty personality in Korea's longest-running entertainment program, Running Man, and has also worked as an actor through works such as the film Intruder. As the only female cast member of Running Man for a long time, she has proudly confronted men in physical confrontations. The series will show a whole new side of Korean star Song Ji-hyo.
Ryan Shiotani, senior vice president of content for Asia at BBC Studios, said, `BBC Studios is very happy to be able to show the lives of haenyeo and beautiful scenery of Jeju Island to viewers through the eyes of Song Ji-hyo through JTBC and BBC Earth Asia"We are well aware that Korea plays an important role as a major content producer and partner, and we are looking forward to our first joint production with the support of JTBC and KOCCA, Korea's leading broadcaster. We have ambitious plans to strengthen and develop our relationships with our Asian partners, and to bring more Asian stories to the world."
Lee Dong-hee, head of the content business division at JTBC SAY Studio, said, `This documentary is an important opportunity for JTBC to promote Korea's precious cultural heritage to the world stage. The haenyeo of Jeju live a unique life that combines tradition and nature, and it is very meaningful to share their stories with global viewersThe co-production with BBC Studios will serve as a springboard to deliver more Korean stories to the world in the future. We plan to create a new paradigm for international content production."
Song Ji-hyo said, "I'm really happy to be able to participate in a project with BBC Studios and JTBC."I want to overcome the limitations I felt while working in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years through this project. I want to use it as an opportunity to learn the real lives of haenyeo and grow in them, not just an experience."
BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the British public broadcaster BBC, responsible for the global production and distribution of premium video content and intellectual property rights. It produces more than 2,800 hours of content each year with domestic and foreign partners and boasts world-famous documentary expertise in nature documentaries, science, and premium factual programs.
soulhn1220@sportschosun.com
