Latest update about China’s ban on Hallyu: Japanese anime, EXO postpone their concert

China intensifies ban on hallyu and cultural content from Korea. Beijing open door for more Japanese animation, while EXO postpone their concert in China.

In the latest update from the diplomatic spat between Beijing and Seoul, K-Pop stars are the one who caught in the middle of this political affairs. China is reported to welcome more Japanese anime according to Yonhap News Agency while Beijing becomes more hostile to Korean content.

The diplomatic relationship between China and Korea has become strained since the South Korean government signed an agreement with the United States to prepare a site for U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deloyment in July this year. China considered the agreement as suspicious and decided to remove the Korean content from state-run television.

That includes removing the Korean celebrities from the advertisement in China. Jun Ji-Hyun, who has signed the contract to become the brand image of the Chinese mobile phone was replaced by Chinese actress. EXO also decided to postpone their concert in Nanjing, as reported by Korea Herald.

EXO was scheduled to have their concert on December 17 at Nanjing Olympic stadium. But recent controversy has made their Chinese agency suggest to postpone the concert.

Although the banned is clearly shown, the Chinese government refused to clarify the rumor of their decision to ban Korean culture product. Meanwhile, Japanese anime has gained more spot in China's television and local critics have also praised them.

This has also raised a question mark from many Korean businesses regarding China's policy. Japan and China have been long engaged in many territorial disputes, but China never takes a similar stance toward Japanese just like what they did to Korean. Especially, recently Tokyo has decided to have their THAAD battery in Japanese territory.

Watch the report from Arirang TV regarding the emergency assessment on China's hallyu ban below: