Hallyu in peril over souring Korea-China political relationship

Scene from popular TV show "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" Courtesy of tvN

Korea stars slowly starting to regain Chinese entertainment industry

By Kim Jae-heun

China's enduring love affair with hallyu, or the Korean wave, is encountering its biggest challenge since hallyu first hit the mainland in the early 1990s, with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) issue souring the relationship between Korea and China.

As two neighboring East Asian countries celebrated the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Thursday, local entertainment insiders hope for an improvement to their estranged relationship and re-initiate active cultural trade again.

Recently, there have been some signs of rapprochement with China in the entertainment sector. Popular Korean actress Song Hye-kyo recently appeared in a commercial on a Chinese broadcasting channel, while another Korean actress Choo Ja-hyun is starring in the Korean entertainment show "How to Live Well and Eat Well" with her Chinese fiance Yu Xiaoguang.

Choo is expected to play an important role in bridging Korean and Chinese fans through her romance story on TV.

It is too early to affirm that Chinese government has lifted its unspoken ban on hallyu stars' appearances on Chinese TV, but industry insiders hope to take Song and Choo's cases as an opportunity to revive the hallyu market again.

The popularity of hallyu in China has played an important role in building relations between the two countries, drawing out effective communication between the two cultures.

Early Korean soap operas like "Jealousy" and "What Is Love" first grabbed Chinese audiences' hearts in 1993 followed by K-pop idols such as H.O.T and Baby Vox advancing to the mainland. Korean dance music duo Clon's mega-hit "Funky Together" released in 1999 also earned great popularity there.

Korean TV dramas became the leading content of hallyu in the 2000s, with Chinese state-run broadcast CCTV and satellite broadcasts airing them in China. The soap operas introduced there helped China to recognize Korea as a developed economy.

Illegal Chinese content distributors began to thrive online with the rising popularity of Korean dramas, uploading episodes with Chinese subtitles only a day after they aired here.

According to a 2012 Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) report, Korean soap operas became the first image to come to Chinese by 42 percent when they think of Korea. It was three times higher in comparison to the second-ranked electronic goods that received 16 percent.

Major historical events, including the 1950-53 Korean War, went forgotten with the rise of Korean dramas and K-pop, which only accounted for 1 percent of Chinese people's first image of Korea. KOFICE said the report concluded Chinese more exposed to hallyu content saw Korea more positively.

The cultural exchange went on in various ways with hallyu's success on the mainland. Not only did Korean entertainment companies collaborate with Chinese firms on small and big screens but Korean producers started to enter the Chinese market as well.

Popular TV program producers like Kim Young-hee of "I Am a Singer" went over to China while Korean filmmaker Hur Jin-ho of "Christmas In August" (1998) and "One Fine Spring Day" (2001) produced the Chinese film "Dangerous Liaisons" in 2012.

Chinese capital also made investments in Korean entertainment companies, seeking to secure Korean content.

However, wariness of hallyu began to grow with the relentless popularity of Korean TV shows and music and the Chinese government announced its new policy to limit foreign content to under 25 percent of what airs nationwide. It also created a screening system to preview Korean cultural content before it is shown to local audiences, which put the main purpose on restricting the import of hallyu.

The former President Park Geun-hye administration's decision to deploy the THAAD system provided the best excuse for China to ban almost all Korean soap operas and K-pop groups to perform on the mainland but the heat has not abated yet. The soundtrack of last year's hit Korean drama "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" topped several Chinese online music charts despite the Chinese government's ban on Korean drama series.

G-Dragon, center, pose during his solo concert at Fukuoka in Japan, last Friday. / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

Sophisticated business model needed

Illegal streaming services of hallyu content and their infringement of intellectual property is plainly witnessed in China.

Despite the Chinese government's efforts to close down the door for K-pop in China, many new songs are seen on the top position of Chinese online music charts. Popular rapper G-Dragon of BIGBANG sold 762,000 digital albums in June when he released his solo album on China's QQ Music that has 400 million users across the nation. Music by other K-pop groups like EXO and EXID are in the upper ranks on the music chart.

"Now it is time to change the paradigm of hallyu" said Kim Ki-hun, head of the Beijing Office for the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) in an interview with local media.

"If we had simple business models exporting a few soap operas and films to China so far, we need to develop more sophisticated business models. The United States and Japan also face political issues with China but their animations and movies are doing well on the mainland. We need to pursue quality, not quantity from now on."