“If one can get Jang Keun Suk to be on a magazine cover, the sales will definitely not be a problem,” a Japanese publishing source revealed.
Jang Keun Suk may very well outstrip the current Hallyu “leader” Bae Yong-joon. His debut single “Let me cry” topped the Oricon chart upon its first release – its sales of 119,000 is equivalent to the total annual sales record of a first-rated singer in Korea. On 11 May, many Korean media touched on the topic of “Why Jang Keun Suk can become so popular in Japan”, and analyzed the reasons why he became a top Hallyu star.
Korean media points out that in contrast to JKS’ deeply-rooted actor identity in Korea, JKS’ acting and singing skill are both widely acknowledged in Japan. Many Korean artistes sing at fan-meetings in order to broaden their artiste activities in Japan, but this time, the sales record of JKS’ debut single remains an undisputable fact which proves that his “musician” identity is officially acknowledged. Oricon’s editor even complimented JKS that “his period has arrived”. JKS was the historical first overseas singer to top Oricon’s weekly sales chart in its first week of sales (including groups and solo singers), and the media analyzed that the reason why JKS was able to achieve this feat as a newbie singer, was related to the singer roles that JKS took on in “You are Beautiful” and “Marry me Mary”, as well as his outstanding performance in singing the drama OST. They think that JKS’ singer image slowly took shape in the hearts of fans through these dramas, so even though his album release was delayed for more than a month because of the earthquake, he could still accomplish these ‘miraculous’ sales, finally leading to the official debut of singer Jang Keun Suk.
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