Though a lot of people are tired of the guy by now, there's something encouraging about the inexhaustible, Beatlemaniacal attention being paid to Korean star Bae Yong Joon. Bae's popularity is merely the most prominent feature of the current kanryu (Korean wave) boom, but the attraction that many Japanese women feel toward the bespectacled actor may be indicative of something larger.

Much of the attraction is pinned on Bae's character in the insanely popular Korean soap opera, "Winter Sonata," which is currently being broadcast for the third time on NHK. This jun'ai (pure love) drama has a convoluted plot involving romantic triangles, amnesia and incest. The appeal of Bae's character is that he always says the exact thing that women want men to say, which isn't surprising since the script was written by two women.

Bae's Japanese fans come from all age groups, and the women's weeklies have covered him intensely. Even Aera, ostensibly a generic newsweekly but one that is increasingly aimed at females, has featured articles about Bae in every issue for the last two months. In one, Aera printed letters from admirers. Most of these correspondents were women over 40 and the depth of their devotion is striking. They say that Bae changed their lives, a common sentiment for a star-smacked adolescent but one that women in their middle years rarely admit to.