Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
Korean zombie drama becomes latest victim of piracy in China
A scene from the Netflix Original zombie series, "All of Us Are Dead" / Courtesy of Netflix
By Park Han-sol
By Park Han-sol
Netflix's new zombie apocalypse series, “All of Us Are Dead,” the third Korean show to top the streaming giant's global chart since its debut on Jan. 28, has become the latest victim of piracy and illegal distribution in China.
In Taobao, one of the biggest online shopping platforms in the country, a pirated copy of the horror series, renamed “Zombie Campus” in Mandarin, is currently being sold for the price of 5 Chinese yuan, or around 1,000 won ($0.84).
Already purchased more than 2,000 times, the video can be downloaded via a file-sharing service, with Mandarin subtitles provided.
As Netflix remains unavailable in China, it is understood that businesses and individuals there have been cashing in on the popularity of the hit series by downloading the high-quality clips illegally through VPNs.
All of the drama's episodes have also been made available for free through dozens of unofficial streaming services and the popular microblogging platform, Weibo.
In Douban, the largest social networking website in China that allows users to submit ratings of films, dramas and books, over 58,000 reviews have been uploaded for the zombie series.
“All of Us Are Dead” is not the first Korean original series to fall victim to rampant illegal distribution and sales in China. The global sensation, “Squid Game,” gained a massive following in the country after pirated DVDs became available and local businesses and vendors further profited from the dystopian thriller through selling thematic merchandise.
“Hellbound,” “Space Sweepers” and “Kingdom: Ashin of the North” form just a fraction of the Korean content released in 2021 that has become subject to piracy.
The pirating of “All of Us Are Dead” comes at a time when anti-China sentiment is already on the rise in Korea, due to Beijing's string of claims to the cultural heritage of its neighboring country, including Korean traditional dress, hanbok, and its fermented side dish, kimchi.
The ongoing 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has seen such cultural conflicts escalate even further. During last week's opening ceremony for the Games, one of the performers representing an ethnic Korean minority of China and carrying the Chinese national flag caused a stir for donning hanbok as national dress.
This controversy was followed by what many Koreans saw as an “unfair” decision during the short track speed skating competitions on Monday, when two Korean athletes, Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo ― who came in first and second, respectively, in different groups for the men's 1,000-meter semifinals ― were disqualified. These penalties, which led to China collecting gold and silver in the finals, enraged many Koreans over what they believe to be a biased ruling in favor of the host country.