Anything but K-pop

Meanwhile

Anything but K-pop

Published: 07 Jul. 2024, 20:03

LEE DO-SUNG
The author is a Beijing correspondent of JTBC.

“Honestly, I was looking forward to it, so I feel very disappointed,” Choi Su-mi, the vocalist of rock band Say Sue Me, said in a telephone interview after a Beijing concert was canceled. The four-member band has been active since 2014 and won the Best Modern Rock Album and Song categories at the Korean Popular Music Awards five years after debuting.

Expectations were high when the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism approved the concert last month, as it was the first Korean pop concert to be held there in nine years since Big Bang’s China tour in 2015. But the event was canceled less than a month before the show date. Choi said that the band was seeking to perform in many cities in China and only got approval from Beijing. “It’s true that I feel down as the concert is canceled,” he said.

The Chinese government does not acknowledge the so-called ban on Korean culture, claiming it is just a voluntary action by cultural circles. But since the Thaad deployment in 2016, Korean content, such as movies and dramas, have disappeared in China, and Koran entertainers have not been able to work in the country. Since 2020, bans on movies, dramas and games were gradually lifted, but strangely, the restriction is harsh on Korean pop music.

Singers from other countries, including Irish pop group Westlife and Japanese band King Gnu, are free to perform in China. K-pop artists with nationalities other than Korean — such as Jay Park and Super Junior-M’s Henry — are also free to perform. Soprano Jo Sumi and jazz musician Maria Kim were also on stages in Beijing and Shanghai. Nevertheless, China is not opening the door only to Korean pop singers. A source in the content industry said, “The ban is less tight on animations and games, where nationality is not so obvious, but they are stricter on K-pop, which is clearly from Korea and is sure to be loved by young Chinese.”

However, Chinese fans still love K-pop despite the ban. Half of the Chinese music charts are dominated by K-pop songs. Fans fill autograph events where artists cannot sing a single song. Chinese fan clubs throw their own birthday parties for idol group members. K-pop events are already underway with cover dances even without the original artists.

The content industry predicts that the restriction on K-pop will soon be lifted. Already, large-scale performances including K-pop singers are held in Hong Kong and Macau. Other regions are also said to be enthusiastic about K-pop performances. But it still requires the Chinese government’s “permission.” The resumption of K-pop performances in China will be a clear signal that the ban on Korean culture has disappeared.