Min-hyung is dating her friend and past rival Chae-rin (Park Sol-mi). The story's plot thickens when Yoo-jin's interior design firm is awarded a project by Min-hyung's architectural firm, and has to work with Min-hyung. Yoo-jin sometimes wonders if he is her supposedly dead first love Joon-sang. After a few months, Min-hyung also falls in love with Yoo-jin, fueling the anger of Chae-rin. Chae-rin sees Yoo-jin as a third wheel and attempts to draw Min-hyung's attention back to herself by lying about Yoo-jin. However, her plan is exposed when Min-hyung accidentally overhears a conversation between Chae-rin and Jin-sook. Cast Bae Yong-joon as Kang Joon-sang / Lee Min-hyung Choi Ji-woo as Jeong Yoo-jin Park Yong-ha as Kim Sang-hyuk Park Sol-mi as Oh Chae-rin Lee Hye-eun as Kong Jin-sook Ryu Seung-soo as Kwon Yong-gook Kwon Hae-hyo as Kim seonbae Song Ok-sook as Kang Mi-hee, Joon-sang's mother Jung Dong-hwan as Kim Jin-woo, Sang-hyuk's father Kim Hae-sook as Lee Yeong-hee, Yoo-jin's mother Ha Ji-hye as Jeong Hee-jin, Yoo-jin's younger sister Jung Won-joong as Park Jong-ho, "Gargamel" Jang Hang-sun as Supervisor Min Lee Hyo-chun as Park Ji-young, Sang-hyuk's mother Park Hyun-sook as Lee Jeong-ah, Yoo-jin's colleague at Polaris Son Jong-bum as Yoo-jin's colleague at Polaris Yoo Yul as Radio broadcaster Maeng Ho-rim as Dr. Ahn Ha Jae-young as Jeong Hyeon-soo, Yoo-jin's father Reception Winter Sonata is credited with causing the second wave of the Korean Wave and extending it to Japan and the Philippines. It improved the image of South Korea among the Japanese and set fashion trends throughout East Asia. The series was a commercial success; 330,000 DVDs and 1,200,000 copies of Winter Sonata novelizations were sold. The series yielded more than when taking into account the profit it contributed to tourism. The number of visitors to the island of Namiseom (where the series was shot) grew from 250,000 to over 650,000 after the series was aired. A statue of the main characters can also be found on the island at the spot where they first kissed. The series shot actor Bae Yong-joon into stardom in Asia, and he became especially popular among middle-aged Japanese women. When he first visited Japan in 2004, more than 3,000 women guarded by 350 policemen gathered at the airport to welcome him. Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister at the time, was quoted saying that Bae was more popular in Japan than himself. The series was also aired in