(LEAD) Actress Song Hye-kyo: 'Descendants of the Sun' gave me a good opportunity

(LEAD) Actress Song Hye-kyo: 'Descendants of the Sun' gave me a good opportunity.

(ATTN: UPDATES with more quotes from news conference, background info in paras 5-8, 15-22)

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- Actress Song Hye-kyo may have been the happiest woman in Korea from last summer to this spring when the TV drama series "Descendants of the Sun" was being filmed. It turned out to be a series full of heartthrob male characters, led by special forces Capt. Yoo Si-jin.

The military romance drama shot Song Joong-ki, who played Yoo, to Asiawide stardom, causing many women in the continent sleepless nights when the show came on.

Song Hye-kyo's character in the series is female surgeon Kang Mo-yeon who develops a romance with Yoo in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk, where Yoo is part of South Korea's peacekeeping force and Kang a volunteer for a medical relief NGO.

"I thought the male protagonist's role was really important for the show's success, and he accomplished that difficult job," the actress said during a news conference at a hotel in central Seoul on Wednesday to mark the show's successful closure. "His acting was so good it actually made my heart leap."

Broadcast simultaneously in South Korea and China, the show became an instant hit in the two nations as well as other Asian countries. The 16-episode series concluded with a stunning 38.8 percent viewership last Thursday in South Korea, which is extremely high for a weeknight drama.

In China, the show has scored over 2 billion cumulative views on iQiyi, the video-streaming website that ran the series.

Song said, however, that she didn't fully comprehend the fever the show created in China until she visited Hong Kong with her male lead for a promotional tour early this month.

"In Hong Kong, I saw students in school uniforms follow a Korean star for the first time in years," she said. "My counterpart actor has become a new hallyu star, so I felt really great that he received so much love." Hallyu means the Asiawide popularity of Korean TV dramas, pop music and films.

Questioned about how she feels with the show now over, Song said she would first like to express her thanks for so much love and attention paid to the show by fans.

"This work gave me a big opportunity, so I'm really thankful for it," she said.

"Descendants" marked her small-screen comeback after the 2013 drama series "That Winter, the Wind Blows."

"Many big and small things happened over the past three years. So, this work was really important to me. I worked very hard, thinking this might be my last chance to act," said the 35-year-old actress, apparently alluding to the incident in 2014 when she came under public fire over her 2.5 billion won ($2.4 million) tax evasion fiasco.

Despite the show's success, she said there will be no drastic change in her career.

"I don't think there will be a turn in my path of life because of this latest success," she said. "I will continue to read screenplays and choose to act in ones I like, as I usually do."

Song said one of her favorite moments in the show was when Yoo confessed his feelings for her by saying, "Should I apologize or confess my feelings?"

"The scene really turned me on. I thought he acted very well and his voice is good," the actress said, adding that she enjoyed most of the show's episodes at home because it was a pre-produced drama. "I was not an actress but a woman engrossed in the drama at that very moment."

As for her title as an original hallyu star, she had the modesty to describe the phenomenon as the result of collective efforts by many Korean actors and actresses.

"That's what Korean stars have achieved all together. I'm honored to be part of the phenomenon as an actress," she said.

She gained Asiawide fame for her roles in "Autumn in My Heart" (2000) and "Full House" (2004). Before "Descendants," Song mostly worked in the Chinese film industry with such giant filmmakers as John Woo and Wong Kar-wai.

"I learned a lot in the past four years as a person and an actress, although I was upset and annoyed to miss many good chances in Korea," she said.

Asked what her future path will be after "Descendants," Song said even she doesn't know the answer.

"Nothing was decided regarding whether I will appear in Korean or Chinese work. I'm keeping all possibilities open."