Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee in Akita

Stills of the first filming scenes for the Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee spy drama IRIS was released today by Taewon Entertainment today to much fanfare. The production team had begun filming for the highly anticipated drama at Lake Tazaka in Akita, Japan on 10th March. The first scene to be filmed was the date between Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Hee at the ski resort with the beautiful wintry environment leaving a deep impression on everyone. Other cast members Jung Joon Ho, T.O.P., etc will subsequently make their way to Akita in the next few days to film a thrilling chase scene in the snow. Many Japanese fans and tourists have been flooding the filming locations for the past week to get a glimpse of the popular hallyu stars like Lee Byung Hun, Kim Tae Hee, Kim So Yeon who are already there. Even though it's now supposed to be the off-peak season in Japan, all the hotels around Akita prefecture are fully-booked thanks to the presence of the IRIS production team. The local authorities have no choice but to deploy police officers and emergency medical services around the filming locations to prevent any accidents from occuring. The production team will stay in Japan for filming until end-March before heading to other cities in Europe for more filming. The 20-episode drama is expected to greet viewers in the latter half of 2009 (tentatively September) via KBS2TV with a production budget of over $20 million US. This wouldn't be complete without a Kim Tae Hee CF.