Kim Woobin (left) and Suzy (right) stand on the podium at the launching event of "Uncontrollably Fond" [Photo by Yoo Dae-gil]
South Korea's entertainment community wet its pants Thursday as it became the first serious target of China's apparent retaliation for the deployment of an advanced US missile shield on the Korean peninsula.
China has canceled a series of fan meetings planned by South Korean celebrities this week after a top media regulator warned of a setback in exports of South Korea's pop culture wave "Hallyu" to China.
Seoul and Washington insisted the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system would be used solely to intercept North Korean missiles. Beijing warned it would "seriously" hurt strategic interests of China and other countries as well as the security balance in Northeast Asia.
Kim Woo-bin and Suzy, the lead actor and actress in South Korean TV drama "Uncontrollably Fond", were to hold a joint fan meeting in China Saturday, but the event's organizers said the meeting was canceled for "Irresistible" reasons, according to their management companies.
The drama has been shown simultaneously in South Korea and on the Chinese video site Youku.
Girl group Wa$$up was to participate in a Chinese concert on Friday but the group's departure was canceled at the last moment at the request of event organizers, said the group's agency, Mafia Record.
The cancellations left South Korea's entertainment society floundering helplessly because Chinese officials gave no clear reasons.
The critical clue, however, could be seen in an editorial published by People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's communist party, on Wednesday that Beijing would not sit on its hands.
After a trip to China, Korea Communications Commission vice chairman Kim Jae-hong also said Monday that China's provincial governments and private sectors were concerned about the fallout from the dispute caused by Seoul's decision to bring in a THAAD battery.
"I've detected signs of Hallyu exports running on a reef because local governments and private companies are seeing how the wind blows," he said.
South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho has ruled out the possibility of China imposing any full-scale economic retaliation against South Korea or a dramatic setback in economic ties between Asia's biggest and fourth-largest economies.
But fears have been growing that the THAAD dispute could strain bilateral relations. Some experts warned China could take serious steps if a THAAD battery arrives in South Korea.
South Korea has sought to balance the strategic priorities of its main military ally, the United States, against those of its biggest trade partner, China.
"Chinese video streaming companies get more benefits from the K-pop wave. I wonder who will lose more in this kind of a situation?", said "Yusm***", a user from South Korea's largest web portal Naver.
Another user named Kich****" criticized China's radical behavior: "The Chinese call their nation the 'mainland', but looking at their childish behavior, I think it's more like 'small land'."
Some other users urged Beijing to shift its attention to other countries like Japan.
Some other users urged Beijing to shift its attention to other countries like Japan.
"Placing THAAD right under China's nose is a clear intimidation ... but THAAD is something we cannot let go. China must take notice that Korea never has attacked China historically and never will. China should take more attention to Japan arming with nuclear weapons." said "STEV****"
Aju News Lim Chang-won and Park Sae-jin
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
