KMazing – Lee Young Ae’s popularity in South Korea is undeniable. Especially after she played in the historical drama titled Jewel in The Palace, Her role as Dae Jang Geum boosted her already famous name and becoming talk of public. Unfortunately, not all dramas starring Korean top celebrities could  end up successful. There are some dramas that actually get low ratings despite starred by several popular actors and actresses, one of them is  Lee Young Ae’s latest drama, Saimdang, The Lights Diary.

The drama have a budget around $ 20 Million but unfortunately failed to attract viewers as the rating never reach its target. With that huge funded number the drama was expected to become the next sensation from K-Drama such as Descendants of the Sun or Goblin, which shook the continent and achieve phenomenal status in the history of K-Drama. The Star, even paired with one of the most respected and famous actor in South Korean drama industry, Song Seung Hun which first grab attention of the public after his mesmerizing performance in television series Endless Love.

Saimdang only managed to record an average rating of 8.4% for 28 episodes with the highest achievement at  13.9% in the very first episode of the television series. Furthermore, the drama’s rating that tells story about two-timeline collision continues to sag. Luckily, the promotion for the series has been done since several years earlier. This drama actually reap the benefits from outside viewers rather than it’s own public in South Korea. Saimdang’s revenues stack up from seven East Asian regional countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan surpassing their own domestic revenue.

“We can not revealed the value of profits explicitly (in South Korea) but the results of this drama exports contributed greatly,” said Group 8, drama producer of Saimdang. “This drama has been the most watched television series in Taiwan since the first episode, and it is well received in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.”