 A Japanese actress, Ryoko Yonekura, was chosen Wednesday to be the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's cultural ambassador to Japan. Yonekura's job will be to encourage more Japanese tourists to visit Korea again, since their numbers have decreased sharply since the Iraqi war and the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
Yonekura is one of Japan's most famous actresses. She plays the main role in the network NHK's popular series "Musashi." Yonekura has close ties with Korea; she appeared in a joint Korea-Japan miniseries, "Passing Rain," last year and has done modeling for LG Electronics commercials in Japan.
The ministry said that Yonekura was very interested in the Korean traditional harp and learning Korean. She was selected because her image as an entertainer was positive and she was considered perfect for promoting Korea in Japan, it said.
Yonekura made her debut into the entertainment world in 1992 after receiving a special award in a beauty contest. She became an actress in 1999.
(Kim Tae-hun, scoop87@chosun.com )
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