Actor Bae Yong-jun has released an album of classical music productions that he personally selected.

The Korean film “April Snow” starring Japan’s favorite son-in-law Bae Yong-joon has been successfully re-released in Japan.

The Korean film industry continues to grow at an alarming pace. After “Silmido” opened an era of 10-million ticket sellers in 2004, four more films quickly followed suit. “The Host” recently set a new record, taking the top spot from the “King and the Clown,” which itself brought more than 12.3 million Koreans to the theaters earlier this year. But the growth in the industry means the amount Chungmuro’s biggest names are charging for appearances on the big screen is also shooting through the roof. How does it compare to overall production costs?

How Much Do They Make?

Clockwise from left: Bae Yong-joon, Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jang Dong-gun, Jang Jin-young, Jeon Do-yeon, Jeon Ji-hyun and Lee Young-ae

One Japanese fan of actor Bae Yong-jun says the actor looked his best in the teaser of his upcoming epic drama "Taewangsasingi," whose filming set on Jeju Island was attended by a group of Japanese fans September 5.

Some 130 Japanese fans arrived on the drama's filming set in five tourist buses, and were excited to see the footage of the drama's teaser prior to touring the set.

They were also lucky to see the shooting of a scene showing the young King Gwanggaeto.

A person from JAM Tour, the organizer of the event, said the director of the drama gave his permission to Japanese fans to see the drama's first shoot.

Leading U.S. paper the Chicago Tribune has belatedly caught on to the receding tsunami that is the Korean Wave. On the paper's Metromix website on Monday, an article titled "In Japan, a yen among women for ‘Seoulmate'" took a good look at the phenomenon that is drawing infatuated Japanese women to Korea in droves.

The article discusses the success of Korean pop culture across Asia, down to the going price for Korea's top actors. "Korean male celebrities are now among the highest-paid actors outside Hollywood," it reports. "'Winter Sonata' star Bae Yong-joon -- whose character stood by his first love through 10 years of car accidents and amnesia -- is now charging US$5 million," the highest in Asia. It also describes the near $100 million empire the actor has been able to build in the short time since he rose to superstardom. At least nine other K-Wave stars are bringing in more than US$10 million per year, the Tribune says.