Lee Young-ae's 'Saimdang' to end early

The SBS TV series "Saimdang, Memoir of Colors" will end earlier than originally planned, its distributor said Thursday, as the fantasy period drama suffered from less than expected ratings.

The Wednesday-Thursday drama starring actress Lee Young-ae premiered on Jan. 26 on local commercial channel SBS as a 30-episode series. SBS said it will end on May 3 or May 4, a week earlier than scheduled.

"The drama's producers have put all their energy into reediting the show from the early stage of broadcasting, tightening the flow of the story and increasing its pace," the network said. "Although it is a pre-produced drama, they have repeatedly amended it based on opinions from viewers to make it more perfect and correct its shortcomings."

The length of two episodes had to be cut out in the reediting process, the company said.

The drama centers on Shin Saimdang (1504-1551), Korea's maternal icon associated with raising the Korean Confucian scholar Yulgok of the Joseon Dynasty. The series made headlines for bringing Lee of the famed show "Daejanggeum" back to TV for the first time in 13 years.

It has also drawn attention for featuring actor Song Seung-heon, another icon of "hallyu" or the Asia-wide popularity of Korean pop culture, and its high budget that includes a 10 billion won (US$8.84 million) investment from Hong Kong. But it failed to create a sensation with its ratings hovering around 10 percent in South Korea. (Yonhap)