From Manila to Seoul: The Korean Drama Fans from the Philippines

Though there are millions, I have met only a few, and among the few, I am happy to introduce to you four of the most loyal and enthusiastic Philippine fans of Korean dramas. These ladies always know the latest Korean dramas and films, and of course, the names of the actors and actresses who star in it!

Meet Cielo, Itchay, Jenny and Marlu. I call them the Korean drama queens of the Philippines. Although they’re not related by blood, they call themselves ‘Seoul Sisters’, having been brought together by a common love for Korean dramas and films.

Even before Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, reached the Philippines in the early 2000s, Koreana, the Korean quartet that sang ‘Hand in Hand’ in Korean and English during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Seoul on September 17, 1988, was probably the first Korean group and the first Korean song that was seen and heard by the most number of Filipinos as the ceremonies were broadcast live in the Philippines that day.  Many years later, in 2003, came Bae Yong-joon and his Winter Sonata drama that swept the Philippines. And the rest, they say, was not only history but a flood of Korean dramas, Korean celebrities, and K-pop artists and music that couldn’t seem to satisfy the hunger of the millions of shrieking Filipino fans.

And just like any devoted fan, these ladies flew to Korea to visit locations of their favorite Korean dramas and realize their dreams of being in an actual Korean drama scene wearing Korean traditional costumes. Of course, shopping for Korean cosmetics was also in their hectic itinerary. 

The ‘Seoul Sisters’ visited the popular Gyeongbukgong Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, Insadong, Namdaemun, Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, Gangnam area and Hongdae in Seoul as well as Nami Island and the MBC Dae Jang Geum Park, a very popular location for Korean dramas that also offers drama tours in Yong-in City in Gyeonggi Province. With the help of the official website of Korea Tourism Organization that provides helpful information to tourists in different languages and their ‘man on the ground' (as Marlu called me), they had fun touring Korea and getting up close and personal with their favorite Korean dramas. 

According to these ladies, these Korean dramas are fun to watch because they are well-made and feature exotic locations, and the lead characters are always perfectly coiffed and impeccably attired even when they’re lying on their deathbeds. The dramas’ storylines always appeal to a wide audience as these are always about love, family and friendships. And as they hardly feature any violence or sex scenes that may be inappropriate for some audiences, they are generally viewed as wholesome.

They also said that another feature of these Korean dramas that makes them likable is that Korean actors and actresses have perfected the art of restrained acting. I think I understand what they mean. Having watched a lot of Philippine television, I noticed that Filipino actresses have a habit of going hysterical in every other scene like they just found a rat in the kitchen. Korean actresses, however, remain calm and just let tears flow even when such rat ate all her kimchi fried rice.

     (Photo courtesy of the Korean drama queens)

After their first visit to Korea a few years ago, the ‘Seoul Sisters’ have returned almost every autumn when their schedules allowed them to. They said that every time they’re here, they found the experience magical and so much fun. Although every time they fly back to Manila they feel the time spent in Korea seems not enough, they’re happy that, not only is their luggage full of Korean goodies and presents for loved ones back home, it’s also full of fun memories that would only make their watching Korean dramas more enjoyable.

Our Lady of Monserrat: The Black Madonna and The Music of the Serrated Mountains

After traveling for an hour on a train from Plaza de España in Barcelona, Spain and then on a rack railway going up the mountain, I finally arrived at the Basilica of Our Lady of Monserrat. Looking at my do-it-yourself itinerary for this place, I thought it was like a mix of pilgrimage, a mountain hike, and a musical concert.  The Basilica sits on the side of Monserrat, a mountain in the Catalan region on the eastern part of Spain. Monserrat is the Catalan word for ‘serrated mountain’ because this mountain range looks like the teeth of a carpenter’s saw from afar.

This basilica is the home of the Black Madonna, or La Morenata, that has been visited by pilgrims from around Europe since the 1200s and has been venerated by millions of pilgrims from around the world. Although the present 38-inch statue of the sitting Virgin with the Child Jesus on the Basilica’s the altar was sculpted during the early years of this church and had gradually turned black over the centuries due to, as some say, candles and lamps lighted in her presence, there is a fascinating story about a mysterious statue that was found at the mountain.

(The Monserrat Abbey and 

the Basilica of the Black Madonna)

According to the legend, in 50 CE in Jerusalem, Saint Luke carved a statue of the Virgin Mary as she was sitting, using the carpentry tools of Saint Joseph. This statue was brought by Saint Peter to Hispania Romana (present-day Spain) and was kept in a church in the Catalonia region.  But when the Arab Muslims invaded Spain in the early 8^th century and were looting and destroying Christian artifacts, the statue was brought up to the mountain of Monserrat around 718 CE for safety. For many years, the statue, named La Jerosolimitana, or The Jerusalemite for having originated in Jerusalem, was forgotten.

But in 880 CE, shepherds in the lowlands saw bright lights emanating from high up the mountain and heard singing coming from that area.  After reporting this strange occurrence to the local bishop, they went up the mountain to investigate and found the cave where they saw the lights and discovered inside a statue of a lady in a sitting position. This cave was eventually named Santa Cova or Holy Cave as they all believed the place provided a home to the La Jerosolimitana all those years. But as they were transporting the statue down the mountain and towards Manresa, a city on the plains near Monserrat, the statue became heavier and heavier until it became physically impossible to carry. The bishop took this as a sign that the Virgin Mary did not want to be anywhere else but to remain on these serrated mountains. She was brought back to Monserrat where a small church was then built around her.

(The view of the plains of Catalonia 

from the Monserrat Mountains)

Although the abbey was founded in 1025, the construction of the church that eventually became a basilica started in the 16^th century and had experienced destruction during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19^th century when the retreating armies of Napoleon went up to Monserrat and destroyed the abbey. But with divine providence, the monks were able to hide the Black Madonna and saved it from destruction. Another significant event occurred on March 25, 1522, when Saint Ignatius of Loyola, after a vigil in front of the Virgin, gave up his sword and dagger at her altar. In 1880, Pope Leo XIII declared Our Lady of Monserrat at the Patroness of Catalonia, Spain, and in 1982, Saint John Paul II made a pilgrimage to Monserrat and prayed in front of the Black Madonna.

It was one cool autumn morning when I set foot on this mystical mountain. By noon that day, I successfully found a seat inside the Basilica near the front of the altar Basilica, joining the thousands of pilgrims awaiting a group of Catalan boys who would sing at the altar. The boys’ choir is L’Escolania de Monserrat, one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe, having been founded in the 1200s by a monk. Throughout the year but except during their summer break, this choir of 50 boys, who all live and study at Monserrat, sings inside the Basilica at 1PM and during vespers.

  (Pilgrims listening to the L'Escolania boys' choir)

Sitting next to a lady from Argentina, I introduced myself as a pilgrim from ‘Las Filipinas’ and chatted with her in my basic Spanish. And as she expressed her excitement to hear the L’Escolania de Monserrat, I told her I was once a choir boy myself and knew the dedication and discipline that went with it. I also told her that at this moment, I’d rather be a pilgrim and an audience member listening to the music sung on an altar that’s high up on a mountain that has seen the strength of faith as well as the cruelty of evil, and the devotion to the Virgin as well as the conversion of those who went astray.

As the choir sang El Virolai, the hymn written in the Catalan language and dedicated to Our Lady of Monserrat, its lyrics sing of the Virgin as “Rosa d’abril…Morena de la serra…de Monserrat l’estel” or “April rose…dark-skinned lady of the mountain…you’re the star above Monserrat”. Though the language of these songs was not my own, I sat there sharing the same devotion the music professed. While listening, I wondered whether this was the kind of music the shepherds heard the first time more than a thousand years ago when they were called to go up the mountain.  But the same heavenly sound or not, I realized that this music, that has serenaded the Virgin Mary and has been heard by countless pilgrims for more than a century and sung by young voices pure of heart, strengthens your devotion and enriches your soul whether you are a shepherd, or a pilgrim from afar.

(Standing on one of the lower peaks of Monserrat where shepherds and pilgrims, as well as Napoleon's soldiers, must have wandered, traveled and fought a war)

Danggogae Martyrs' Shrine in Seoul and the First Korean Saint in the Philippines

Although Catholics in South Korea represent 11% of the total population, you can still feel their devotion almost everywhere. I once noticed a Korean woman praying the holy rosary while riding the Seoul subway. On her right hand was a bracelet rosary that she was turning around her fingers as she prayed. Also, right in the middle of Myeongdong, the most famous shopping spot in all of Korea, stands the center of the Roman Catholic faith in Korea, the Myeongdong Cathedral.

But what’s impressive about the Catholic Church in Korea is that they encourage pilgrimages to Catholic pilgrim sites scattered all over the country. The Korea Tourism Organization even helps in this campaign by providing online pages for these sites and publishing tourist brochures just for these religious places which also have their own websites that provide information to visitors.

And in the middle of the Yongsan District in Seoul, there’s a small and quiet hill surrounded by tall apartment buildings. This hill is the Danggogae Martyrs’ Shrine, where, on December 27 and 28, 1839, ten Korean Catholics were martyred. On those two dark winter days, they gave up their lives for their faith. Of the ten, nine are now saints, while the last one, Blessed Mary Yi Seong-rye was beatified. She was the mother of Father Thomas Choe Yang-up, the second ever Korean priest.  Father Thomas’ father, who was executed with his wife, is also a saint with the name Saint Francis Choe Kyeong-hwan.

In 1839, when Father Thomas’ mother was about to be executed, her children asked the executioner that in order for her “to go to heaven without suffering long, he must cut their mother’s head with one stroke”.  One can just imagine the pain, the trauma and the suffering her own children had to go through by watching their parents’ public execution. Their mother was just 39 years old.

Father Thomas was not in Korea when she was executed. He was studying in Macau, then a Portuguese colony at that time. But due to subsequent disturbances in Macau, Father Thomas left for Manila. Learning about the story of the second ever Korean priest setting foot in the Philippines in 1839 was a surprise for me. He must have sought refuge and continued his religious studies in the Philippines, being the only Catholic country in the Far East.

But in 1861, when Father Thomas was already in Korea, Catholic persecution was widespread.  Unfortunately, that year, he succumbed to typhoid fever. On his deathbed, he received the Last Sacraments and could barely speak. But the last words he uttered were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. He was only 40.

The execution of the Korean Catholics, not only on this hill but on different parts of the Korean peninsula, is a testament to the faith of the Catholics in the country since Christianity arrived here through Christian literature written in Chinese in the early 17^th century. And from the late 17^th century until 1866, more than ten thousand Korean Catholics, including the ten martyrs of Danggogae Shrine, were executed. On May 6, 1984, in the first ever canonization ceremony outside the Vatican, 103 Korean martyrs were declared saints by Pope John Paul II.

One of those canonized by Pope John Paul II was Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea’s first-ever Catholic priest. He was baptized at 15 and also studied in Macau and in Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines, where a church is now dedicated to him. Yes, there is a church in the Philippines dedicated to a Korean saint!  He was ordained in 1844, but in 1846, Saint Andrew Kim Taegon was tortured and beheaded near the Han River in Seoul. He was just 25.

This is why the Danggogae Shrine is special to the Catholics in Korea. It is a witness to the birth of Christianity in Korea and to the devotion and faith of Koreans to God. Until today, it gives inspiration to all pilgrims, local and international. That is why it is part of the Catholic pilgrimage in Korea. Though the shrine is surrounded by tall apartment buildings, it is serene and quiet. It has a chapel and a museum, and on the garden above, there is a Way of the Cross which gathers the faithful during Holy Week.

The Danggogae Shrine is also called a Mother’s Shrine because three of the six women who were martyred on this spot were mothers who had very young children. Blessed Mary Yi Seong-rye had a one-year old baby from whom she was separated when she was captured. She was beatified by Pope Francis during a beatification mass in Seoul, Korea, which I attended on August 16, 2014.

So, if you're a Catholic and want to do a pilgrimage in Seoul, do include the Danggogae Martyrs' Shrine, it's one shrine where faith has been professed and ordinary Christian followers became saints and martyrs for their ultimate sacrifice.

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