Winter Sonata

Winter Love Song) is a 2002 South Korean television drama series, starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo.

The story begins when Joon-sang (Bae Yong-joon), the son of an eminent musician, moves to Chuncheon, a rural city in South Korea.

On his way to school one day, Joon-sang's classmate Yoo-jin (Choi Ji-woo), while sitting next to him on the bus, falls asleep on his shoulder.

He returns to Korea and Yoo-jin sees him on the street, prompting her to put off her engagement to her childhood friend Sang-hyuk (Park Yong-ha).

[4] The series was also aired in the Philippines in 2003, via GMA Network's primetime block under the title Endless Love II: Winter Sonata and one of the highest rated shows at that time.

PMP Entertainment later released the drama in VCD and DVD format under the Bahasa title, Kisah Cinta Musim Salju (meaning "Winter Love Story").

In 2006, pan-Asian American network AZN Television bought the rights to air Winter Sonata in a 24-hour marathon with other Korean dramas.

[10] In Asia, the drama is available to stream via Iflix with English, Indonesian, Malay, Simplified Mandarin, Sinhalese, Vietnamese and Burmese subtitles.

Directed by Ahn Jae-hoon and written by Kim Hyeong-wan, the program featured 23 members of the original Korean cast voicing the characters, including Bae and Choi who reprised their roles.

Winter Sonata marked its 10th year milestone with a staging of a new musical adaptation that ran from September 27, 2011 to March 18, 2012.

[16][17] Yoon Seok-ho was the producer and art director, with stage direction by Yoo Hee-sung (Mozart!, Pimagol Love Song) and musical score by Oh Eun-hee (Dae Jang Geum, Singin' in the Rain).

[18] The Winter Sonata musical first premiered in 2006 in several cities in Japan, including Sapporo, Tokyo and Osaka, and popular crossover tenor Im Tae-kyung drew crowds.

[19] It also completed a run in Busan and Seoul, from late 2010 to early 2011, with stage direction by Im Do-wan (Woyzeck) and musical score by Lee Ji-soo.

[21][22] A Nintendo DSi enhanced title, called Fuyu no Sonata DS was released in Japan by D3Publisher on December 17, 2009.