Popular South Korean actor Bae Yong Joon flew to Japan on Monday to promote his new movie "April Snow."

Bae's flight information was kept under wraps to avoid a ruckus, but about 600 fans had gathered at Narita airport in time for his appearance at the arrival lobby shortly after noon.

When he visited Japan last November, an estimated 3,500 people, mostly women, flocked to Narita airport to catch a glimpse of the star -- the largest such crowd since the airport opened in 1978, according to airport officials.

Bae, known affectionately as "Yon-sama" among Japanese fans, rose to fame here for his leading role in the hit South Korean TV drama "Winter Sonata."

His new film, scheduled to be released in Japan and other Asian countries in September, is a love story about a man and a woman who find out that their spouses, who sustain critical injuries in an accident, had been cheating on them.