Junta chief calls on Thais to view "patriotic" Korean drama

A hit South Korean drama about a gun-toting soldier saving lives in a far away land has won over Thailand's mercurial junta chief, who on Thursday called on citizens to watch the show.

Former army chief turned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power in a 2014 coup and has often portrayed himself as an officer duty-bound to save Thailand from years of political chaos, even penning two pop songs and commissioning a series of short films to spread his patriotic message.

Now he has urged Thais to watch "Descendants of the Sun", a drama that is winning over scores of viewers in South Korea, China, Japan and beyond.

"What I have seen is that they have inserted a sense of patriotism, sacrifice, obeying orders and being a dutiful citizen," he told delegates at a government function on Thursday morning.

"So please watch it and if anyone wants to make such a drama I will financially sponsor it to make people love government officials, uncorrupted officials and make the Thai people love each other," he added.

The so-called Hallyu (Korean Wave) of TV shows and pop music has conquered most of Asia and, in recent years, found new, devoted fans in the Middle East, Latin America and North Africa.

"Descendants of the Sun" tells the story of an army captain sent on a peacekeeping mission to a distant fictional country, battling shady henchmen to save his love interest.

It has proved particularly popular with Chinese viewers.

Korean dramas normally begin airing before later episodes are filmed to allow for ratings-boosting script adjustments.

But the show's producers recorded "Descendants of the Sun" in its entirety to pass Beijing's strict censorship rules, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

It is a tactic that seems to have worked.

On Saturday China's public security ministry issued a tongue-in-cheek posting on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, saying thousands of women were suffering from "Song Joong-Ki Sickness" -- a reference to the dashing lead actor.

But Song Joong-ki was Prayut's one criticism of the show who he described as "very good looking with a boyish look".

"In real life a captain must shoulder a lot of burden and would look older," he mused.