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Alyssa Chen

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Foreign Affairs

Lee to seek Beijing’s support on N. Korea, economic cooperation during January trip

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is expected to seek common ground with Beijing on issues such as North Korea’s nuclear program and sanctions during his January trip, while also working to steady bilateral ties in hopes of creating a more predictable external environment for the country’s economy and businesses, according to experts. Lee is set to visit China in early January, marking his first trip to the country since taking office in June. It is the first visit to China by a sitting South Korean president since Moon Jae-in attended the Korea-Japan-China summit in 2019. The upcoming visit follows Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to South Korea in late October for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting — Xi’s first visit to Korea since 2014. Although details have yet to be announced by either side, a South Korean official said earlier that the two countries were in talks and more information would be made public shortly. Raising further anticipation for Lee’s visit, South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo held a str

Dec 27, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Lee to seek Beijing’s support on N. Korea, economic cooperation during January trip
Society

Road to Empress: palace intrigue game sweeping Korea

Poisoned bread and gruel, or starvation — Road to Empress I turns simple choices into life-or-death gambles. In one sequence, players could die in three different ways after being sent to the dungeon for wearing a “flashy outfit.” Road to Empress (or Seongse Cheonha in Korean), a Chinese-made interactive palace intrigue game, has taken Korean gamers by storm, with many applauding its immersive, interactive, innovative and easy-to-play nature. Since the release of its first part in early September, Road to Empress has been a particularly big hit in Korea, driving significant livestreaming activity by gamers on YouTube, once topping the nation's Apple App Store paid chart and remaining a top 5 seller into mid-December. Produced by China’s New One Studio, the two-part game is a narrative role-playing game set in the 618-907 Tang Dynasty, inspired by the true story of Wu Zetian, China's only female emperor. It features a branching narrative structure, where players’ choices in dialogue, actions and quick-time events heavily impact the path of the story branches and characters’ fa

Dec 17, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Road to Empress: palace intrigue game sweeping Korea
Society

Korea competes with Thailand, Russia as Chinese tourists reroute from Japan

With rising tensions between China and Japan disrupting travel plans, Chinese tourists are actively seeking alternative destinations for their winter getaways. While South Korea hopes to capitalize on this diverted tourist flow, it faces fierce competition from popular hotspots like Thailand, Russia and other destinations, according to travel industry officials. The diplomatic spat began when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested potential military intervention in the Taiwan Strait, prompting Beijing to issue a travel warning on Nov. 14. Chinese airlines were instructed to offer refunds on Japan-bound flights through the end of the year, leaving hundreds of thousands of Chinese travelers scrambling to adjust their plans. The timing aligns with Korean airlines’ efforts to expand routes to China, which are more profitable than routes to Japan. Korean Air Lines increased its Incheon-Fuzhou route from three weekly flights to four last month, and Asiana Airlines is set to operate 165 weekly flights to China by March, reflecting a 20 percent increase in capacity. Chinese cruise op

Dec 4, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Korea competes with Thailand, Russia as Chinese tourists reroute from Japan
Others

Chinese fans brace for curbs on Japanese culture, echoing hallyu ban

What was meant to be an ordinary concert for fans of Japanese singer-songwriter Kokia in Beijing turned into disappointment when the show was abruptly canceled on Nov. 19. Fans waited outside the venue for over an hour past the scheduled start time, only to leave without ever seeing a performance, according to social media posts. For Wang Xiaobu, a Beijing office worker who bought a ticket for the Beijing show, the cancellation wasn’t the end. Determined to see Kokia perform, she made a last-minute decision, flying to Guangzhou for another concert during the weekend. “I turned regret into contentment,” she said on the lifestyle platform RedNote. “The last-minute cancellation for my first time also led to my first spur-of-the-moment trip. An unforgettable experience.” Wang’s experience appears to be tied to the latest fallout from an escalating spat between China and Japan over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments suggesting Tokyo would deploy its self-defense forces in the event of a Beijing attack on Taiwan. China, which regards the self-ruled island as part of its terr

Nov 28, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Chinese fans brace for curbs on Japanese culture, echoing hallyu ban
K-pop

Debate emerges over MAMA Awards proceeding after Hong Kong fire

A debate over the 2025 MAMA Awards, set to take place in Hong Kong on Friday and Saturday, has emerged online after a deadly apartment complex fire left the city in mourning. Just two days before the K-pop awards show’s opening, a catastrophic blaze ravaged a residential estate in Tai Po District, leaving 65 people dead and 279 missing as of Thursday afternoon. The disaster, which prompted the city’s highest fire alarm level and suspended major public activities, including those for the upcoming Legislative Council election, has cast a shadow over what was meant to be one of Asia’s biggest music events. As the city grieves, the awards show — organized by Korea’s CJ ENM and scheduled for the newly built Kai Tak Stadium, some 20 kilometers from the disaster site — has divided opinion online. Many argue that staging a large-scale global music festival amid such profound loss is insensitive and risks backlash. “The city has just experienced such a tragedy, and now there’s going to be a group of foreigners partying and celebrating. The whole situation feels deeply somber,”

Nov 27, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Debate emerges over MAMA Awards proceeding after Hong Kong fire
Foreign Affairs

Tokyo–Beijing rift over Taiwan jeopardizes key Korea-Japan-China cooperation

Tensions in Northeast Asia are escalating as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan reignite discord between China and Japan. When the foreign ministers of Korea, Japan and China met in Tokyo in March, they agreed to accelerate preparations for a trilateral summit, but the widening rift has now derailed the long-awaited meeting. Japanese media reported earlier this week that China has rejected Japan’s proposal to hold the trilateral leaders’ summit in January. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed on Monday that there was no agreement on when to hold a proposed meeting between the three countries’ leaders. She added that Takaichi's remarks had “undermined the foundation and atmosphere for trilateral cooperation.” Takaichi, the new Japanese leader, told a parliamentary committee earlier that a Chinese naval blockade or other actions toward the self-ruled island could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, possibly allowing it to exercise its right to self-defense. Her comments were notably stronger than those of her p

Nov 21, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Tokyo–Beijing rift over Taiwan jeopardizes key Korea-Japan-China cooperation
Foreign Affairs

Can China’s deepening image crisis in S. Korea be reversed?

Just two decades ago, many South Koreans viewed China favorably while eyeing the United States with a degree of skepticism. Today, the tables have turned — around 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans now hold unfavorable views of China, marking a striking reversal in public sentiment. Experts at a Korea-China relations forum in Seoul last week highlighted this stark shift, emphasizing the need for greater efforts from the Chinese government to improve its image in South Korea. At the forum, co-hosted by the Seoul-based Institute for Global Strategy and Cooperation and the Beijing-based Global Governance Institution, experts acknowledged that the negative sentiment toward China currently permeating South Korean society is a pressing issue. They stressed the importance of expanding cooperation and rebuilding mutual trust. A poll released earlier this year by the Institute for Future Strategy at Seoul National University and the Chosun Ilbo found that younger South Koreans hold overwhelmingly negative views of China, ranking it only marginally above North Korea. While more than 40 percent o

Nov 18, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Can China’s deepening image crisis in S. Korea be reversed?
Foreign Affairs

China wary of South Korea’s nuclear sub plan, urged to show restraint

South Korea’s renewed drive to acquire nuclear-powered submarines could potentially affect the recent thaw in relations with China, analysts said at a forum on Korea-China relations in Seoul earlier this week. The United States gave South Korea an unprecedented green light to develop nuclear-powered submarines following a summit last month between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings. In a forum organized by the Seoul-based Institute for Global Strategy and Cooperation and the Beijing-based Global Governance Institution, experts hailed the positive momentum for bilateral ties gained after the leaders’ summit between the South Korean president and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 1. Hwang Jae-ho, director of the Global Strategic Cooperation Research Institute, noted that South Korea-China relations are at a pivotal moment of leaping into a “second phase” under new conditions, where new cooperation and practical measures are essential. Chinese ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing noted in

Nov 14, 2025By Alyssa Chen
China wary of South Korea’s nuclear sub plan, urged to show restraint
Films

Korean film 'The World of Love' sparks conversation in China after years of hallyu ban

Gentle, yet uplifting and empowering. These are among the reviews flooding Chinese social media after “The World of Love,” a Korean independent film directed by Yoon Ga-eun, began making waves internationally. The film, which opened in Korean theaters in late October, has already garnered critical acclaim abroad, including in China — a market that has been largely closed to Korean films and cultural products for several years due to political tensions. A touching and nuanced exploration of resilience and agency in the aftermath of trauma, “The World of Love” swept two major awards at the ninth Pingyao International Film Festival in late September. Last week, the film also made a splash at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. Since then, it has gained significant traction in China, with enthusiastic word-of-mouth propelling its popularity. Discussions about the film’s themes and positive reviews continue to grow on RedNote, a leading lifestyle-sharing platform in China. The film begins with a depiction of Joo-in’s seemingly ordinary daily life, gradually revealing the traumati

Nov 13, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Korean film 'The World of Love' sparks conversation in China after years of hallyu ban
Foreign Affairs

Shenzhen to host next APEC as China seeks to showcase openness, innovation

Shenzhen’s selection as the host city for the 2026 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit highlights Beijing’s commitment to openness and its ambition to showcase the city’s innovation-driven growth on the global stage. Announcing the selection at the conclusion of the 2025 APEC summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Chinese President Xi Jinping described Shenzhen as “an important window to China’s unwavering pursuit of a mutually beneficial and win-win opening-up strategy." Set to take place in November 2026, it will mark the third time China has hosted the summit, after it was held in Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014. Xi emphasized that China will leverage this platform to advance regional cooperation in areas such as free trade, connectivity, the digital economy and artificial intelligence. Located just across the border from Hong Kong, Shenzhen is now home to some of China’s largest tech giants, including telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, internet service company Tencent Holdings, electric vehicle producer BYD and drone maker DJI. The city’s trans

Nov 5, 2025By Alyssa Chen
Shenzhen to host next APEC as China seeks to showcase openness, innovation
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