{"id":310979,"date":"2026-02-22T05:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T05:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/310979\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T05:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T05:33:10","slug":"k-pops-big-freeze-are-cracks-in-chinas-cultural-blockade-a-thaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/310979\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop\u2019s big freeze: are cracks in China\u2019s cultural blockade a thaw?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While K-pop has conquered almost every corner of the globe, South Korea\u2019s entertainment industry remains largely locked out of the Chinese market due to a geopolitical chill that has lingered for a decade.<\/p>\n

China unofficially banned South Korean entertainment products in 2016 after Seoul deployed the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system<\/a> (THAAD) despite Beijing\u2019s objections. K-pop concerts were cancelled, South Korean dramas disappeared from Chinese streaming platforms, and South Korean stars were edited out of Chinese variety shows.Beijing has never officially admitted to the existence of the ban on hallyu \u2013 or \u201cKorean wave\u201d, referring to South Korean popular culture. Although Chinese fans have found creative ways to stay connected to South Korean pop culture, Seoul\u2019s entertainment industry is still waiting for the ban to lift<\/a>.South Korean President Lee Jae Myung\u2019s visit to China<\/a> last month failed to achieve<\/a> a complete reopening of the Chinese market. But slight cracks are appearing in the barriers to Korean content.<\/p>\n

In early January, the Chinese remake of the South Korean television series My Mister \u2013 featuring singer-actress IU \u2013 was released on the streaming platform Youku. The Chinese version, titled Loving Strangers, starred actors Mark Chao Yu-ting and Zhang Zifeng. Media reports noted that it was the first South Korean drama remake to be publicly distributed in China since the ban began.<\/p>\n

\"LovingLoving Strangers, starring Mark Chao Yu-ting (right) and Zhang Zifeng (left), is the first South Korean drama remake to be publicly distributed in China since an unofficial cultural ban started a decade ago. Photo: Handout<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM partnered with JYP Entertainment\u2019s Chinese subsidiary and Tencent Music Entertainment to launch Onecead, an artist management and music production company with a focus on the Chinese market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While K-pop has conquered almost every corner of the globe, South Korea\u2019s entertainment industry remains largely locked out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[2102,8139,6432,114,229,145759,91956,93,145758,99950,145760,91955,240,61,60,145754,97277,91353,145751,6521,145749,145756,27787,145750,35904,278,145761,145757,145753,10046,541,120742,145752,145762,145755,12139,145763],"class_list":{"0":"post-310979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-beijing","9":"tag-blackpink","10":"tag-bts","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-chinese","13":"tag-cnblue","14":"tag-cortis","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-exo","17":"tag-hallyu","18":"tag-hallyu-ban","19":"tag-hearts2hearts","20":"tag-hong-kong","21":"tag-ie","22":"tag-ireland","23":"tag-itzy","24":"tag-iu","25":"tag-ive","26":"tag-jyp","27":"tag-k-pop","28":"tag-korean-wave","29":"tag-lee-dong-wook","30":"tag-lee-jae-myung","31":"tag-loving-strangers","32":"tag-macau","33":"tag-music","34":"tag-my-mister","35":"tag-nct-dream","36":"tag-onecead","37":"tag-seoul","38":"tag-south-korea","39":"tag-south-korean","40":"tag-tencent-music","41":"tag-thaad","42":"tag-wayv","43":"tag-xi-jinping","44":"tag-youku"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}