Pinoy actor-director in Korea stars in episode of action-horror series

SOUTH KOREA—From directing to acting, a Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) graduate who migrated here has snagged himself a starring role in a popular TV show.

In his latest project, Nash Ang stars as Ikbal, one of the two Filipinos who witnessed a crime in the action-crime-horror Korean drama “Ghost-Seeing Detective Cheo Yong.”

In the series, Yoon Cheo Yong (played by Jiho Oh) is a detective who has supernatural abilities to see and hear ghosts since birth. Together with female detective Ha Sun Woo (Ji Eun Oh) and a ghost high school student Han Na Young (Hyoseong Jun, from a popular South Korean girl group Secret), they solve paranormal cases and arrest criminals.

Episode 5 tackles a case that involves foreign workers in a factory. It shows their lives, how they learn Korean language and how they sacrifice for the sake of their families at home. It also deals with human rights issues.

Ang, as one of the two Filipinos in the episode, showcases his talent in speaking both in Korean and Filipino.

Nash took up Mass Communication and majored in Broadcasting in PUP in Sta. Mesa, Manila. He is currently studying Masters in Film major and Directing in Korea University of Arts. In September 2012, he won Best Director in the 13th Pyongyang International Film Festival in North Korea .

His directing career started when he won two grand prize awards in the ASEAN-Korea Multimedia Competition in South Korea in 2012, and in the 1st Southeast Asian Documentary Awards 2010 in Thailand.

Nash also won 1st Place in the Asian Development Bank's My View Video Competition 2011. His documentary film "Lusong" (Dive) was a finalist in 2012 New York Film Festival.

Aside from his directing career, Nash appeared in the music video in JYJ’s Incheon 17th Asian Games song, "Only One." He had a cameo role in the South Korean film "The Flu," together with fellow Filipino actor Lester Avan. He is the main actor in a theater group named Salad Multicultural Theater Group, which goes to elementary schools in and out of Seoul to conduct show tours and introduce multi-culturalism in Korea.

Nash has a minor role as a crying man in the upcoming film of Jang Dong Gun, one of the highest paid actors and celebrity endorsers in Korea. Currently, he is working as a director on a full-length film of a romantic-comedy about Korean and Filipino love story entitled "Confession," after doing a short horror film called "Poor House." — KBK, GMA News