China’s ban on Korean culture

China seems to push for banning dramas, advertisements and movies that contain Korean actors or actresses. After Korea announced that it would deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in July, a fan meeting for Kim Woo-bin and Suzy who starred in Korean drama “Uncontrollably Fond" in Beijing was suddenly cancelled. Local media reports say that Beijing will completely ban Korean cultural content in the wake of the signing of the provisional military intelligence pact between Korea and Japan.

According to Chinese entertainment media outlets, the ban is put implicitly without an official document. The host of the fan meeting said the cancellation was due to force majeure. Chinese Internet users knew that it was because of the deployment of THAAD, and cheered for the authorities. The Chinese media authorities are in charge of checking broadcasting, movies, and advertisements in China and is said to have instructed broadcasters not to import Korean contents and conduct a joint venture with Korean media. Someone posted on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, that he received a notice from the government that all advertisements including a Korean actor or actress must be banned.

The ban dealt a severe blow to Korean entertainment and cosmetics companies, which heavily rely on the Chinese market, causing a fall in stock prices on Monday. Some raise doubts over the feasibility of the ban as quite many events related to Korean content are held as scheduled. While some news reports said Song Joong-ki, a Korean actor popular in China, dropped out of a China-made smartphone advertisement, his agency denied the news.

Japanese pop culture, which had been completely banned in Korea since its independence, has been open to Korea in phases since 1998. Though Korea banned it officially, Japanese pop music and cartoons sneaked into the Korean society. It is doubtful whether Beijing can completely ban the inflow of Korean culture despite its intention to ban it. Exchanging pop culture is a way to influence each other. The ban does not hit just Korea. It is neither good for China as it will miss out good opportunities to experience various culture and strengthen its cultural industry. Hopefully, China can behave as the world’s second largest economy, not like a “narrow-minded giant.”