Kim Ji-soo joined The Korea Times in 2006, and worked on such desks as culture and politics and is currently a member of the Editorial Board. Previous workplaces include The Korea Herald and the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Will China become bigger for hallyu?
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Actor Lee Min-ho poses after performing at CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala in this Jan. 30 file photo. He was the first Korean entertainer to make an appearance in the popular holiday program. In the wake of “The Heirs,” Lee has been zigzagging across major cities in China to meet with his fans. / Korea Times file
By Kim Ji-soo
By Kim Ji-soo
Taiwan is the place where the word “hallyu” was first coined with the popularity of dramas and music. Then the Korean wave spread to the greater Chinese-speaking region in 2005 when Korean dramas such as the “Jewel in the Palace” (2005) exploded to grab mainland China.
China’s 1.3 billion population and the growing affluence means its potential as the biggest consumer of Korean popular cultural content is an attractive goldmine for Korean entertainers.
At the moment, China remains the second largest cultural content export destination. According to the 2012 figures released by the Korea Creative Content Agency, Korea exported a total of around $4.4 billion of cultural content overseas, with the Japanese market accounting for 30.2 percent or around $1.3 billion. The Chinese market came in second, where it absorbed 27.6 percent or around $1.2 billion.
“These figures should really be translated after taking into consideration the price the content is sold at, and the differing GDP and disposable income,” said Chung Mi-kyoung, senior researcher at the Korea Creative Content Agency. So while the figure may lag behind Japan, that doesn’t necessarily mean the popularity of hallyu in China would commensurately lag. Chung didn’t give out specific timetable but she forecast on the potential of the Chinese market to bloom soon.
Crayon Pop danced its “Bar Bar Bar” along with 100 attendants in a special holiday programming that aired on China’s Hunan Television in this file photo. / Courtesy of Chrome Entertainment
Lately, it’s stirring again, with the popularity of “My Love From the Star” viewed via Internet and mobile download sites. This drama was sold to a Chinese content company before its airing in Korea for the highest-price yet. On its eighth episode as of Feb. 15, the drama hit about 1 million views.
The drama “The Heirs” that just completed its run raked up 400 million views. The drama’s leading star actor Lee Min-ho in January became the first Korean entertainer to make an appearance on the China’s CCTV’s lunar New Year holiday programming the Spring Gala Festival. Since the drama, he has been meeting fans in varying cities in China and will grace the cover of the Chinese Cosmopolitan’s March issue.
These dramas didn’t wait for the broadcast censors who can take eternities to approve the airing of a drama. Approval from China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television will require time, and there are also limitations including the portion of foreign dramas of the daily broadcast portion and also bans on airing of foreign dramas during peak prime viewing hours of 7 through 10 p.m.
The K-pop industry has also been innovative in the attempt to recruit Chinese fans. SM Entertainment’s super rookie K-pop group EXO that grabbed a Baidu Feidian honor last year, has four Chinese members. Super Junior also has a Super Junior-M, which is a subunit with four of its original Super Junior members and two ethnic-Chinese entertainers of Henry and Zhou Mi.
JYP Entertainment’s new boy group GOT7 has two members of Chinese heritage; Jackson, who is in charge of rap and dance, is from Hong Kong; and Mark Yi-En Tuan is a Chinese-American from Los Angeles. Fellow label mate missA has two Chinese members — Jia and Fei — both of whom are from Hunan Province in China.
These efforts are bearing some fruit. A KOCCA report detailed that in the second half of 2013, a total of seven K-pop concerts and fan meetings with actors were held. But during the post-Valentine’s Day weekend, five Korean actors held fan meetings in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Also during that weekend alone, Big Bang held a fan meeting in Hong Kong and Girls’ Generation held the final concert of its world tour in Macao. In addition, EXO and the quirky k-pop girl group Crayon Pop appeared in a special holiday program on Hunan TV on Feb. 14.
Because of the more lucrative Japanese market and the still-high entrance barriers, Korean entertainment agencies have made a foray into the China market relatively late. SM Entertainment was the first to systematically enter the China market in 2007. YG Entertainment last year joined hands with third-ranking Chinese cosmetics company Guangzhou Huanya Cosmetics Technology Co., a joint venture in Hong Kong. JYP artists actively perform in China as well.
In a recent interview with a local daily, SM Entertainment chief Kim Young-min said that he expected 50 percent increase in ticket sales from concerts in China this year. So this year SM Entertainment artists led by groups EXO, f(x),BOA and Kangta will aggresively promote themselves there. YG artists Big Bang and 2NE1 are also scheduled to perform in China this year.
Also with China having set its priority on growing its cultural content market in 2015 to double the size of 2010, industry watchers are expecting heightened exchanges or outflow of Korean content.
“It’s not only the dramas and the music. The Korean games will be debuting in China this year,” said Chung. NCsoft’s “Guild Wars 2” will be released this year. Actoz Soft’s “Guardian Cross” and “Chain Chronicles “and other new games are expected to be released this year. WeMade will release “Lost Saga” and “Changcheon 2.”
Stocks industry watchers forecast that overseas sales of Korean entertainment companies will expand to China and Southeast Asia starting 2015, rather than remain focused on the Japanese market, Kim Min-jeong of Hana Daetoo Securities forecast.