Drawn to Jeju Island, thanks to K-dramas

The veteran artiste and her eldest daughter Shanisse Tsai, who are fans of the hit K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025), gleefully posed for photos amid the island’s vibrant yellow canola flowers and against its rocky coastline.

- Benson Ang Lifestyle Correspondent

They even savoured the delicious, juicy tangerines from which the period romance starring South Korean actors IU and Park Bo-gum derived its name.

When the show aired on Netflix in March, both mother and daugh ter watched the episodes together and became fans.

When Ms Tsai suggested in midApril that the pair spend three nights on the island, Chen - who visited Jeju in the 2000s when her children were young but has few recollections of that first trip - agreed immediately. It turned out to be a great bonding experience.

The duo are among a growing number of tourists enchanted by K-dramas such as When Life Gives You Tangerines and Our Blues (2022), which were filmed on the island located at the southernmost of the Korean Peninsula.

The former has received critical acclaim for the performances, screenplay and direction. It won Best Drama at the Baeksang Arts Awards in May, the Grand Prize at the Blue Dragon Series Awards in July, as well as Outstanding Korean Drama at the Seoul International Drama Awards in October.

Places featured in the drama include the Seongsan IIchulbong volcano, Seongsan Canola Field and Gimnyeong Fishing Village.

Mr Oh Young-hun, governor of Jeju province, attributed the rising awareness of Jeju partly to K-dramas.

In a meeting with journalists from ASEAN on Nov 12, the 56year-old said two million foreign tourists have visited Jeju in 2025, two-thirds the number in 2019.

He added that 2025 visitor numbers have increased by 14 per cent compared with 2024.

Apart from K-dramas, Jeju’s natural and cultural heritage has also contributed to its attractiveness as a tourist destination.

For example, the Jeju volcanic island and lava tubes, with their multi-coloured carbonate roofs, floors and dark-coloured lava walls, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.