Philippine telecommunications giant Smart announced on Wednesday, October 28, that Korean superstar Park Seo-joon joined its growing roster of endorsers.

Seo-joon, known for his roles in the series Kill Me, Heal Me, Itaewon Class, and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, joins fellow Korean actors Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin as the faces of the homegrown telco’s campaigns and services.

In a virtual press conference, Smart also announced its partnership with streaming platform Viu, best known for its vast collection of Korean shows. Seo-joon, in particular, stars in a commercial to promote Giga K-Video, a package that allows subscribers access to Korean shows via Viu.

“Like the two other international endorsers, PSJ is popular and well loved by the Filipino audience,” explained Smart president Al Panlilio, who described their Korean brand endorsers as “very professional, humble, and very successful in their careers.”

Smart executives said initial talks for the partnership with Viu began in January, with more serious talks of potentially tapping Seo-joon in June 2020. His contract with Smart was signed in August 2020, with the shoot for the TVC and campaign happening over two days in September.

Just like Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin’s, Park Seo-joon’s contract includes a visit to the Philippines – the date of which has yet to be determined, owing to pandemic restrictions.

In a pre-taped video during a Smart press conference, the actor said the Hallyu craze – or the rise in popularity of Korean shows and talents – fascinated him, particularly because of the differences in language. In the end, the actor had fans to thank for the popularity of Korean content in countries like the Philippines.

The TVC is only the first of 3 Smart campaigns that will star Seo-joon.

GIGA K-Video 99 is open for Smart Prepaid and TNT users, and comes with a 7-day Viu Premium subscription, 1 GB of data for Viu every day for 7 days, plus 2 GB of open access data. Subscribers can register for GIGA K-Video by dialing *123# and will soon be available via the GigaLife App – Rappler.com