Actress Lee Young-ae to open Korea souvenir shop in Seoul

Actress Lee Young-ae, best known for her title role in the MBC TV drama “Daejanggeum,” will open a souvenir shop in Seoul for foreigners drawn to visit the country by Asian-wide enthusiasm for Korean pop culture, her management agency said Monday.

The shop will open in mid-December on Seoul’s Samcheong-dong street, a rising tourist destination with a village of traditional Korean houses called “hanok,” boutiques and galleries, the agency said.

Items to be sold there will include traditional Korean teas, organic baby soap and lotion, the agency added.

“Lee is putting final touches to open the shop,” her manager said. “We hope many hallyu-driven tourists will visit the shop with interest in the hallyu star Lee.”

Hallyu refers to the rising popularity of Korean popular culture including TV shows and films and music, which has secured hordes of fans in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Lee has rarely been seen in public since she married a Korean-American businessman in Hawaii in 2009 and became a mother of twins.

The last movie Lee appeared in was “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” by director Park Chan-wook, released in 2005.

Her 2003-2004 drama series, also known as “Jewel in the Palace,” tells the tale of an orphaned cook who goes on to become the king’s first female physician. The show drew nearly 46.2 percent of viewers in South Korea and was later exported overseas to heighten the popularity of Korean pop culture. <Yonhap>