By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - "Descendants of the Sun," a recent Korean military-themed drama series that is enjoying huge popularity in China, is also winning the hearts of soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA). As a result, it has become another favorite Korean drama of Chinese people of almost every condition following the 2013 megahit drama "My Love From the Star."

"Descendants of the Sun" is winning the hearts of Chinesesoldiers. The image above comes from a promotional poster of the drama./ Sourcefrom PLA Daily

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This fact is evident from the report on 'Descendants of the Sun' by China's official army newspaper PLA Daily on Tuesday. The PLA Daily indirectly revealed that Chinese PLA soldiers are in love with the drama, stating, "The drama 'Descendants of the Sun' has been viewed 1 billion times on a Chinese video streaming site. This military-themed drama highlighted the spirit of the nation and presented a modern image of South Korea's armed forces effectively." Besides, it's quite exceptional for an official Chinese army newspaper to praise the drama itself.

Moreover, the newspaper said, "This drama has shown respect to the viewers' intellect and aesthetic appreciation. It would make a great job advertisement to recruit soldiers." It strongly urged Chinese military movie and drama makers to copy the Korean drama to improve image of military and boost army recruitment. The newspaper added that the parties involved should make a reflection for not being able to make such movies or dramas in the past 10 years and that they should provide inspiration for China's movie and TV drama industry to produce more military-themed entertainment.

There are many reasons for the drama's high popularity among Chinese soldiers. Most of all, the soldiers have already experienced Korean wave before their enlistment. The high popularity of female lead Song Hye-kyo, the fact that the drama is military-themed, and that the drama airs simultaneously in both Korea and China through Chinese online video platform iQiyi are other reasons for such popularity.

There is still half way to go for the 16-episode drama series. Still, the drama is showing an enormous fandom. Chinese top actress Angelababy displayed her love for the drama by uploading a picture of herself dressed up as Song Joong-ki's character in the drama on her Weibo account. Certainly, this drama is displacing fast the hit drama "My Love from the Star."