'Descendants of the Sun' tops 30 pct viewership in Seoul

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- The new television series "Descendants of the Sun" has soared past 30 percent in viewership in Seoul, data by Nielsen Korea showed Thursday.

The fifth episode of the KBS 2TV drama recorded 31.2 percent viewership here Wednesday, the first time it has reached that milestone since premiering on Feb. 24.

Across South Korea, it was viewed by 27.4 percent of TV homes, up 3 percentage points from the previous episode last week.

"Descendants of the Sun" tells a love story between an Army captain (Song Joong-ki) and a doctor (Song Hye-kyo) who travel to a war-torn country called Uruk to save lives.

It's the first Korean show to be aired in South Korea and China simultaneously, and has been noted for being completely pre-produced. Traditionally, Korean shows are produced on an episode-by-episode basis to leave some wiggle room for adjustments.

New episodes come out Wednesday and Thursday nights at 10 p.m.

In China, the series is distributed on the video streaming website iQiyi.

sojungpark@yna.co.kr
(END)