’S CULTURAL SAN INA CT CH IO N?

On Monday, Hong Kong actor Jacky Heung announced on Sina Weibo that he would be replacing Hwang on the show. His post was reposted by the show’s official Sina WeiboW ib account,t thoughth h neither Hwang nor Hunan Satellite TV has yet to comment.

When it comes to live performances involving South Korean stars, approvals seem to have stagnated since September, according to data from the commercial performance approval information platform on the official website of China’s Ministry of Culture. When one enters the keyword hanguo ( South Korea) in the search bar, the last approval for a South Korean performance to appear is dated September 26.

Insider voices

It’s unclear how these changes will impact the entertainment industry.

“Yes, we’ve received the notice about the ban, but only through word of mouth,” a reality show program producer who wished to remain anonymous told the Global Times on Tuesday.

“We were told to avoid bringing in South Korean stars and production teams when producing new programs,” she added.

Employees at major TV stations including Beijing Satellite TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV revealed in an interview with tmtpost. com, an online media platform, on Tuesday that they were also told to stop broadcast of ads with South Korean stars.

They added that they were still discussingc how to handle the situation.

The impact on online streaming platformsp seems to be minimal.

Luo Ming, vice director of the R&R D section belonging to Tencent Video’sV Variety Show Department, told the Global Times on Wednesday that he has not yet received any form of “notice” concerning a ban.

Official response

While official channels have not acknowledged a ban, that has not kept speculation at bay.

Recent years has seen SAPPRFT step up regulation of imported foreign TV shows. This has led to many US shows being taken down from Chinese streaming platforms until they attain approval through official channels. It’s possible that recent moves indicated that it’s now South Korea’s turn to get in line with new regulations.

Others suspect the changes may be political.

“The Chinese government has toughened its regulations on Korean pop culture since last month, [ Yonhap News Agency] sources related to the matter said Tuesday, in apparent retaliation against South Korea’s decision to deploy an advanced US missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula,” South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency wrote in a report on Tuesday.

However, the reason might not be so political.

As China’s TV show production has matured, recent years have seen the appeal of South Korean dramas decline. This is in part due to the fact that Chinese audiences now have access to a wider variety of shows and so no longer need to depend on South Korean shows, which many are now finding too clichéd, said a media commentator, who preferred to

remain unnamed.