Kim Bum arrived in the country Wednesday morning (September 30) to become the latest endorser of RC Cola and shoot a commercial with Philippine's very own teen actress Maja Salvador.

Earlier today, October 3, the Korean actor, who is more popularly known as Yi Jeong in ABS-CBN's recently concluded Asianovela Boys Over Flowers, met with the local press to talk about his latest endorsement and his upcoming sports drama titled Dream.

The stars said that the theme of their ad is "proposal" but they refused to divulge more details.

Maja mentioned that they shot the TV commercial for two days in Binondo and Paco. In the behind-the-scenes video shown to the press, the Kapamilya actress was seen walking around the streets of Manila while holding a bottle of the softdrink brand.

Kim is able to understand questions posed to him in English but he would answer them in Korean so the organizers had a female translator interpret his answers.

There have also been rumors saying that Kim is in a relationship with their Boys over Flowers co-star Kim So Eun who plays the character Chu Ga-eul. However, the 20year-old actor dismissed this rumor by saying that he is single right now. The translator explained, "They were classmates. They used to go to school together so the lady is more of a friend rather than a girl [friend]."

The Korean actor mentioned that he had the last taping day for Dream before he boarded his flight for the Philippines. This marks the first time that he plays the lead role in a Korean television series.

When asked to describe his role in his new show, the translator gave this answer:

"His [character] used to be a pickpocketer [sic] in an orphanage and turning into a great person. He turns into a great person dreaming and hoping to be a great fighter...a great martial arts fighter. It's more of the process so it's telling people that anybody can be a hero if you really try."

The trailer of the show was shown to the press earlier and it showed how Kim trained hard to become a boxer.

Before ending the interview, Kim said that he would love to know more about Filipinos and the Philippines. In fact, his translator pointed out, "He's really in love with the Philippines. He just arrived here and he was stuck in a hotel and more than 12 hours of shooting [for the TVC]. But he was touched by the people. In no time, he will be coming back whether for work of for a personal visit, I will definitely be coming back."

He also entertained the press with the Tagalog words that he learned during his stay here. Kim enumerated, "Payong, Salamat po, palakpak [motioning clapping hands]."

Did he also learn how to say ‘I love you'? Kim pointed to Maja and said, "She didn't teach me that."

Meanwhile, the commercial that he and Maja shot will be aired for the first time on October 18 right before ASAP ‘09.


PEP