Entertainment and cosmetics shares fall en masse over Beijing's ban on K-pop stars

By Park Sae-jin Posted : November 21, 2016, 11:13 Updated : November 21, 2016, 11:13

Park Bo-gum, one of the favorite Hallyu celebrities, poses for a red carpet photo session at 2016 Asia Artist Awards on November 16. [Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]


Shares of South Korean entertainment firms and cosmetics brands slipped en masse Monday on news that China started restricting activities by K-pop stars in retaliation for the planned deployment of an advanced US missile shield.

The fall followed news reports that Chinese TV stations were under pressure from authorities to restrict commercial ads and show and programs showing K-pop stars and artists.

The hillside golf course some 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Seoul was picked in September to deploy a THAAD system.

Last week South Korea's Lotte Group accepted a property swap to transfer its golf course as the new site for the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system aimed at intercepting North Korean ballistic missiles.

The golf course some 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Seoul was picked in September to deploy a THAAD system.

Yang Xiyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told a seminar in Seoul last week that Beijing was preparing diplomatic and military responses.

"China is making various preparations, including diplomatic and military ones," said Yang, who once headed the Chinese foreign ministry's office dealing with Korean issues.

On July 13, a military base near a rural town in Seongju was picked to deploy a THAAD battery. But the decision was scrapped later because of strong protests by residents who argued their town would be the target of North Korean missile attacks.

The US missile shield also sparked concern about China's economic retaliation. The THAAD system has hurt relations between Beijing and Seoul.

Beijing has argued the US missile shield would "seriously" hurt strategic interests of China and other countries as well as the security balance in Northeast Asia. China has threatened to take retaliatory steps if a THAAD battery arrives in South Korea.

Some 28,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea under a mutual defense pact dating back to the 1950-53 Korean War. The two Koreas are still technically at war with no peace treaty signed.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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