The Catholic wedding recently took place in Gahoe-dong cathedral in Jongno, Seoul but lets take a look back at the events leading up to the surprisingly modest wedding. 

In a hand-written letter to fans, South Korean pop icon Rain announced his engagement to top actress Kim Tae-Hee. However, unlike most fans would have expected, the letter said that their wedding would be low-key given the country's economic and political woes.

"I am going to be a good husband and man as a head of a family," said the singer in the letter, posted on his Instagram feed.

"She has always been by my side through the hard times and the good times," he said, referring to the actress who is two years older than him and is popular across Asia.

The couple first met while shooting a TV commercial in 2011 but they didn't start dating until 2012.

The wedding attracted the attention of the media and fans as Rain - whose real name is Jung Ji-Hoon - is one of the biggest names in the world of K-pop. This genre of music amasses a huge amount of followers not only in South Korea but across Asia and beyond.

Even though Rain is mainly known as a K-pop icon, he has also starred in numerous South Korean TV dramas and Hollywood action pictures including the Wachowski brothers‘ "Ninja Assassin" and "Speed Racer".

"Regarding the time and the wedding ceremony, we plan to keep it as quiet and holy as possible during the current unstable national mood and economically difficult times," he said.

The wedding is going to take place at a Catholic church in Seoul with family members.

Rain is also known for being confined to barracks for a week back in January 2013 for sneaking out to meet Kim while performing his mandatory military service.

Rain was Time magazine's 2007 most influential person in the world. Stephen Colbert was second. In 2008, Stephen Colbert jokingly challenged Rain to a dance off with words like "Hey Rain, let's see if Korea will lift the embargo on balls". Colbert even did a Korean kind of music video, jokingly mocking Rain.

Rain comes from a humble background which is one of the reasons he puts so much effort into everything he does. Either dancing, singing or acting, Rain always works hard to deliver the best result yet. That is why he is also famous for his statement: "If you were to ask me the reason I tried so hard, there is no reason. Trying as hard as possible is everyone's duty in life."

Park Bo Gumchas is a whole Korean legend. This artist from Seoul has appeared in a range of roles in both television and film. His popularity sparked among the young crowd due to his tenure as a co-host on popular music program "Music Bank" which turned him into the cool kid from the blow. But his popularity is not limited to youngsters.

Park Bo is also beloved by women who have supposed his roles in K-drama.

Some of his most important appearances include his role as a psychopathic lawyer in Hello Monster (2015), a genius Go player in Reply 1988 (2015), and a Joseon Crown Prince in Love in the Moonlight (2016).

The actor has received numerous awards and nominations including winning "Top Excellence in Acting" at KBS Drama Awards. He broke a record in 2016 when he was named "Actor of the Year" by Gallup Korea, becoming the youngest actor to rank first in the survey's history.

Here are some of his quotes which have been treasure by his fans:

"My father told me to ‘Always live truthfully'. And he also told me that ‘You have to live while staying truthful to your original intention'. ‘You have to go with what you first believed in, in order to have no regrets.' He also told me that ‘Even if you fail while living like that, it will all just be an experience and if you succeed then it'll be a memory."

"I don't take back words that I have spoken; I take responsibility for them."

Many fans treasure his words in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds

: "Do not forget. If I only had one person in the world that I could trust, it would still be you."

"If you ever need to let go of something in the middle of a tough situation, can you promise me that it won't be me?"

"When I see you, I get angry. But that won't do, because I don't see you, I get even angrier. Like I'll go crazy. So, stay by my side."

"Even if we were spun in circles, we were fated to meet each other."

"Thank you for teaching me that the sincerity of love can create miracles."

"Maybe I push you away to see if you care enough to pull me back..."

When Park Bo Gum was asked a question during the 2016 Style Icon Awards, he replied

"if it's someone that I love, I think she'll look pretty no matter what she wears."

"When you open up a path, you must also open the gate at the end of the path."

"There's no need to ask me for favors, since I would do anything for you."

"If there's someone you miss, you have to meet that person."

"Do you know how worried I was that when I opened my eyes, the person in front of me wouldn't be you? When I held on to you, I hesitated for so long, in case it wasn't you."

Running Man star Lee Kwang Soo won a top prize at SBS Entertainment Awards amidst controversy about the show. He accepted the Top Excellence Award for his performance on popular variety program Running Man, which has been involved in controversy lately over the apparent dismissal of two of its cast members, Song Ji Hyo and Kim Jong Cook.

After the controversy sparked, the production team announced that the two cast members would stay on until the show's finale. Despite rumors, all six cast members of the show were at the awards ceremony.

Running Man star Lee Kwang Soo gave a touching acceptance speech in which he thanked those who "worked hard to defend Running Man." "To Ji Suk Jin, who taught me about life and entertainment, to Yoo Jae Seok, who made me the person I am today, to Kim Jong Gook, my mentor, to Haha, whom I love like family, to Song Ji Hyo, who is like my real sister, and to Gary, Song Joong Ki and Lizzy. I love you all so much," Lee said, mentioning each of his team members.

After the ceremony, fans expressed disappointment in the fact that Running Man, a show that has been airing on SBS for almost seven years, only took one prize home.

In response to the fans, SBS released a statement on Instagram explaining that the Running Man cast has asked not to be given any prizes as they wanted to keep a low profile during the awards show.

"For this reason, Running Man was only given one award," the statement concluded.

It was the comedian-TV host Shing Dong Yup the one who took the Grand Prize home for his work on Mom's Diary - My Ugly Duckling, a reality show spotlighting celebrities and their mothers. The show, launched in July, boasted a viewership of over 10 per cent on Friday nights.

Some of the most memorable quotes of the show are:

"Kim Jong Kook talks a lot. I'm glad he's not my mother in law." - Jae Suk to Jong Kook at epsode 98

"When Jong Kook screams, he has no charisma at all." - Yoo Jae Suk

"Lee Kwang Soo said that he was a burden to Yoo Jae Suk." - Yoo Jae Suk answered that he was not a burden to him but he is a burden himself.

Since the division of the historical state of Korea into two distinct sovereign states - North Korea and South Korea - in 1945, the cultural gap between the two states that once formed a sole nation have done nothing but become wider with the passage of time. Despite them being neighboring countries, the estrangement between the two nations was due to the cultural isolation of North Korea and both countries' ideological discrepancies.

Recently, however, mass media has been bridging the cultural gap between the two countries. In particular, South Korean TV shows are having a strong influence on North Korean society, according to a high-ranking North Korean official.

Once the number 2 official at Pyongyang's embassy in London Thae Yong-ho met with South Korean reporters for the first time in 2016 and stated that how the North Korean people are stuck on the Korean Wave.

"Every North Korean I know has watched South Korean shows," Thae said and then he confessed he himself is a fan of period flicks, "Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shi," "Jeong Do-jeon" and "Six Flying Dragons." The audience was amazed at the North Korean official's capacity to name the South Korean TV shows from the top of his head.

Apart from the South Korean TV shows, other TV dramas that gained popularity among the general North Korean crowd, according to Thae, included romance works "Autumn in my Heart," "Winter Sonata" and "Full House."

Surprisingly, a few dramas that discuss North Korean defectors‘ assimilation stories in the South - namely, "Blow Breeze," - were especially favourites in the North.

The influence South Korean mass media is having on its neighbouring country is such that its TV shows are changing the way North Koreans converse. According to Thae, the South Korean shows have influenced younger North Koreans to adopt South Korean terminology in their everyday lives.

"They way they call each other when they date, ‘Jagi-ya' and ‘Oppa-ya,' did not exist in North Korea prior to the influx of South Korean entertainment contents," Thae said, referring to South Korean terms of endearments.

"The two things the regime is failing to control are drugs and South Korean dramas," Thae said.

Accordingly, North Korean diplomats destined abroad check the South Korean press every morning for news regarding North Korea.

"The North Korean system can only last as long as it can completely block off all information from the outside world," Thae admitted. "When the day comes when people have access to the information that has been censored, North Korea will come crumbling down like an earthen wall soaking wet."

The reason why South Korean TV shows are so popular among its neighbouring country is the little diversity on North Korean TV and extensive repetition - most of the movies are re-runs. This is because national TV can only show programs that adhere to Pyeongyang's ideology. In fact, most of the programming is impregnated with national propaganda, but even propaganda has to be entertaining in order to be effective.

With North Korean TV state programming being so repetitive, propagandistic, uniform, restricted and dull, it is no surprise ordinary North Koreans opt to watching South Korean dramas despite harsh penalties if they are caught.