Korean Stars Get Blacklisted in China Due to Sino-Korean Beef Over THAAD Deployment

Things are not well in Sino-Korean political relations and the first big casualty is the spread of Hallyu. Due to the Chinese government being disgruntled that the South Korean government is installing THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) to protect itself against mainly the threat that is crazy sibling North Korea, there is now a reported ban on all Korean entertainer promotions in China. That includes airing of upcoming dramas, promotions by K-stars on Chinese entertainment shows, and casting of Korean actors and actresses in upcoming dramas or films. Song Joong Ki supposedly lost a huge pay day to do a period C-drama, and Yoo In Na finished filming a C-drama and may have her scenes and roles swapped out. A bunch of recent C-dramas starring K-stars wrapped filming this year and now will not get the regulatory approval or an airing time slot on network or streaming portal. Yikes!


Comments

Korean Stars Get Blacklisted in China Due to Sino-Korean Beef Over THAAD Deployment — 144 Comments

  1. I kinda had a feeling this would happen as I didn’t think the Chinese government would be thrilled with Hallyu being so popular in China.

    • That’s the thing with doing business in china – very unpredictable and not worth it – the goverment can pull the rug from under you at any time, for whatever reason. Better not to depend on china if possible and a good lesson learned early. A joint production is a win-win for both sides. Oh well. For southkorea, protecting itself from crazy north korea is more important.

  2. Sigh. China being a big bully. Using their market share and money to arm twist others. Urgh. Acting like a kindergarten kid- Don’t listen to me? I won’t friend you! This is why I hate politics. And in the end, their own citizens suffer because they don’t get to watch these stars, and the Korean stars suffer as well, because they probably turned other offers down to star in China.

    • It is bullying behaviour, but the Chinese have their own stars – the loss of a handful of foreign entertainers and idols, most of whom don’t even speak the language, is nothing to a Chinese audience. They’ll always choose national loyalty over a handsome face.

      Thankfully for Song Joong Ki, he’s already super popular in Korea so he doesn’t have to depend as much on China as some other Hallyu flower boys, and he’s getting back to work on a Korean movie very soon.

  3. Boycot China too! They can’t survive without other countries too, they remind me of Trump, they can take on everything alone. Sure…keep telling yourself that….

    • China view SK’s installation of the US-developed THAAD as highly provocative because a nuclear defense system installed by a US ally so near to Mainland China can be deployed against them, especially if Trump is the next president. It’s like their enemy borrowing their next door neighbours house to keep their gun collection and bulldogs. China will be forced to tone down their provocations in the South China Sea because of the THAAD at their doorstep.

      China doesn’t give two fex about the nuclear system being deployed on their puppet buffer state NK, USA and SK will not want the NK buffer state to fall either because it benefits nobody and there’ll be millions of NK refugees. SK is not defending against NK, it’s China SK & USA are bothered about.

      • That is very paranoid thinking. Why on earth do you think SK is not defending against NK? NK has the capability and has directly threatened SK that it will annilate and take-over SK. Don’t you know anything about SK-NK politics. Obviously you don’t care. You only care about the Communist China point of view. And if US wants to hurt china, all it needs to do is pull out all of its business and manufacturing in China. USA doesn’t see China as a threat, because it’s not.

    • LOL…he’s lucky compared to LMH’s upcoming drama. Only 15 minutes pay? I don’t think he cares much but sure Chinese self-claimed wifeydom would be gone depressed. LOL

      • Lol but LMH has already established himself well all over the world and not only China as compared to others. Everyone gets affected by this but LMH has more outlets compared to others.

  4. This is not surprising, Hallyu exists solely at the mercy of politics in the countries it’s exported to. First Japan, now China.

    So much for all those people going around claiming their (Korean) oppar is ‘the greatest star in the world’ because they have China relevance, ha!

    • I’m actually emotionally indifferent to this new censorship. The ones who are impacted most may be those K actors whose main activity platform is in China, such as Park Ha Jin.

  5. Park Hae Jin will be really affected. He’s been focusing so much in China. At least his last drama has finished airing (I think).

    A pity that a good drama like “W: Two Worlds” will suffer from this.

    • PHJ’s last cdrama finished airing in March or April so I think he’s safe. His next project is a Korean drama anyway, so he has work for now.

      But yeah, future China-oriented projects are screwed, more or less.

      • It aired already? I thought it hadn’t yet. Its the one he helped produced right? I was waiting for it. Care to share a link?

  6. Pity the Hallyu stars.Trust China to flex its financial muscles to push its political agenda. That’s why artistes active in the mainland market rushed out to support its nine dash line claim.

  7. I don’t understand why China being so sensitive over THAAD when the direct concern of South Korea is actually North Korea and not China. But I do understand that China is the only country that has a good relation with North Korea. China is a huge market and South Korea been focusing so much on China especially that Hallyu has loses its steam in Japan but still pretty strong in other Asian regions especially Southeast Asia. Its a huge loss for the chinese fans and at the same time even bigger losses for the Korean entertainment industry. I am not sure if the whole banning is really triggered by THAAD issue or it is just an excuse to refrain the domination of Hallyu in China.

    • I think it’s more because SK partnered with USA to install THAAD which irks them more. This gives USA a bit of increased presence in the region which China doesn’t like.

      Though if we’re counting, SK only turned to USA for help because China refused to “scold”(?) NK when it was being aggressive in the region.

    • It’s the same as the US opposing Iran getting S-300 missile defense system from Russia. Iran considers S-300 system as a defensive tool against possible Israel air raids. But why do the US, who are some thousands of miles away from Iran, is against it?

      • LOL…the reason is simple! Because Israel is an ally of the US. Similarly, S. Korea, Taiwan, and even Japan, are allies of the US. That’s just an obvious no-brainer fact.

      • @Bobby, that’s not my point. I wasn’t about should or should not, who should or who should not, but just stated an obvious fact about international politics. It’s useless to argue which country is entitled or more righteous to do certain acts. It’s all about balancing power.

      • @Drama2016

        “It’s all about balancing power.”

        Yes. And the US is trying to destroy that balance in the region by deploying THAAD. THAAD is declared as a defensive weapon but it can also monitor both China and Russia’s territory and aerial space some hundreds of miles deep into their countries. That’s why it’s both defensive and offensive weapon. Imagine your neighbor installs some kind of anti-burglary device on his fence, but the device has an ability to see what is inside your house and what you are doing at home. You won’t like it, right?

      • Well, it’s not a secret that China, secretly or overtly, has been using all kinds of means to flex her military muscles in the region too. Do you naively think that Chinese are more decent than other global citizens to just stay quietly in their own houses as couch potatoes watching K dramas? LOL… Surely their defense system also constantly spies her neighbors. Therefore based on what logic can Chinese justify their military ambition but not the US? It’s also well known that Chinese are the source of hackers into American financial and other governmental security systems. You seem to justify (or should I say cut slack) one country’s military agenda but denounce another country’s security measures. Chinese take THAAD as offensive and intrusive. But for S. Korea and the US, it’s a defense measure. It’s all about power struggles. China doesn’t want to see the influence of the US in her neighborhood. Equally the US and her allies like S. Korean, Japan, and Taiwan are wary of Chinese military ambition too.

      • @Drama2016

        “China doesn’t want to see the influence of the US in her neighborhood. Equally the US and her allies like S. Korean, Japan, and Taiwan are wary of Chinese military ambition too.”

        Right and it has been like that for decades without any major escalations. CHN knew about US military/geopoltical amibtions. The US knew about CHN military/geopolitical amibitions. Both sides knew each other’s intentions and abilities and was not really keen on escalating things. This is called “status quo”. But now the US wants to destroy that “status quo” lol

      • Not ok for Iran to get a missile defense system because the government is too unstable and a haven for ISIS terrorists and nobody is threatening it anyways. No country wants Iran to have a missile defense system except Iran. Comparing this situation is an error in logic. Different countries involved and different situation.

      • In my opinion, China is upsetting the balance – not other countries. Weaker countries have a right to protect themselves and not be picked on by China. USA is a major importer of Chinese goods and products. There is nothing against China, but its encroachment on other countries shouldn’t be tolerated. The missile defense system is not on China’s land so China doesn’t need to give a shit.

      • @crystal

        Sigh this is s problem with ignorant, brainwashed americans like you. Always talk loud about things you don’t have idea about, most of the time totally misinformed and lack of knowledge.

        “Iran to get a missile defense system because the government is too unstable and a haven for ISIS terrorists and nobody is threatening it anyways”

        Iran is actually one of those countries actually fighting against ISIS and Al Qaeda in Syria. Is that your media who told you Iran was on ISIS side? WTF? This just shows how much awfully brainwashed you are.

    • I think that not a real reason, there something from sk thing, which hurt nk and china feeling, but maybe sk don’t realize that. Some artist from china treated unfair too,in sk.

    • Because the labeled as a defensive ABM system can be turned into an offensive missile within overnight. THAAD also allows the USA military to peek deep into China’s territories (esp. the northeastern area), even the far-east region of the Russian Federation is covered by the THAAD system as well.

      By this ABM installation, Seoul will put itself as a legitimate strategic target by both Chinese and Russian missiles when a serious crisis evolves and the THAAD becomes serious threat to the strategic balance!

      • That’s right. Entertainment fan girls need to realize that not everything is so simple as it looks.

      • Chinese authority may appear very petty to meddle in showbiz using THAAD as a shielding excuse. It would be a simpleton to think banning certain celebrities and ent products would change the foreign policy of a country! LOL…This so-called retaliation or sanction just appears very comical and doesn’t justify to be a wise strategy to make any significant impact at all. I’m pretty sure S. Korea makes a lot lot lot more profits from the Chinese market by selling Samsung Galaxy than exporting K dramas or Kpop concerts to the Chinese market. The economic impact of this showbiz sanction is insignificant to S. Korea. LOL…The ban on K ent products looks ridiculously childish unless as Hu mentioned, THAAD is just a timely and hidden excuse for Chinese authority to temper Hallyu influence. I see the latter more plausible since I don’t think Chinese authority would be such political simpletons.

        Nevertheless, I see Chinese authority still does stupid things with kinda mentality of ancient Chinese imperialism that regards China as a superior country to her neighbors.

        THAAD a serious threat to the strategic balance in the region? Such spurious logic. As a matter of fact, all the Far East neighbors of China deem this rising power as a threat and would like to have greater presence from another superpower (legitimately the US) in the region. From Chinese perspectives THAAD is a great threat. But her weaker neighbors think the other way – THAAD is to beef up their defense against the threat from China.

        Ok. I didn’t expect to chime in with long ass paragraphs but can’t help. LOL….Let’s better not talk about politics. I’ll turn really serious when politics and religion are discussed, which I prefer not to on a drama forum.

      • @Drama2016

        Yes, THAAD a serious threat to the strategic balance in the region. It destroys status quo in the region. Imagine Cuba deploying russian-made S-400 missile DEFENSE system. Imagine how would the US react? Oh yeah, another Cariebean sea crisis. But this time China reaction to THAAD is way calmer and toned down than then US response in 1962.

        And China put a ban on hallyu wave because it’s the easiest thing you can live without. No hallyu wave, ordinary people can still live on and enjoy their daily life without suffering. Putting a ban on everyday life goods (hone appliance, food products etc) is more problematic and can harm people’s life directly.

      • @po, that’s why I said such a sanction on K ent is insignificant both politically and economically.

        THAAD destroys the balance of the region? I guess you’re a Chinese so you took a position from Chinese perspectives. But put in the shoes of non Chinese in the region, I’m sure they do like to see greater presence of the US force in the region bcos they see China as a military threat given rising territory disputes between China and her neighboring countries.

        Again, I’m not saying who’s right or wrong. In politics, specifically international politics, it’s too complicated to just play by general moral standards.

  8. Man Yoona got real lucky her drama already aired and her album was just released in China.

    So what will happen to all the other completed dramas where Korean actors/actress starred in? Will they just never air it or refilm the scenes? Braveness of the Ming will probably just get shelved since that drama was filmed a year ago.. Poor Park Min Young *sigh*.

    • Hopefully everyone who’s filmed cdramas already has been paid so at least they don’t end up totally screwed financially if their segments don’t make it to air.

      • Usually business contracts including international trade (e.g. sino-Korean collab) are supposed to have terms and conditions to follow. I don’t think getting due pays will be a concern for those who already finished filming. Instead, it will be losses to the investors who won’t see the days to reap investment profits from the blocked dramas.

  9. Good for SJK because his fan meeting has finished before this thing. His agency confirmed that he has not negotiated any movie or appearances in china so definitely he has not affected that much. If that would be the case he will be the last new hallyu star in the making until this banning is not been lifted yet.

  10. China created the wackadoo to the North, and if they no longer have the power or will to control the situation, that is on them. But, yep, they do what they do. I read that things already scheduled on the calendar will be allowed to proceed. Lee Joon Gi has both Scarlet Heart and his movie coming out late this month, and I know he was promoting there but will be interested to see if any of that continues.

    I think dramas already in the works – Rain is in a big production – will probably continue but that might be it for a while. I mean Ice Fantasy is a huge success in China and it has Victoria in it.

      • “Unfortunately” for you, nothing bad will happen to her because she is chinese from head to toe. At most they will face a pressure to finally ditch Korea and return to China. If you have access to chinese sns, the sentiments of c-netz are mostly supporting her (and Lay and others). Her epic IG post (the 9-dash line one) is nearing 3 million comments of intense word war between c-netz and vietnamese.

      • Okay, this is where I admit I am a K-drama lover but I don’t keep up on the music groups and usually have to be told about them. I had no idea Victoria was Chinese; just knew she was in fx or whatever group that is. It was my understanding she was co-staring with Rain in his new drama and I thought it was weird to be headlined by to Koreans so now I know. Thanks for info.

      • @bobby thanks for the attitude, if you can’t give a civilised response then don’t bother answering. I was actually asking honestly but then why would I expect a civil response from site full of haters.

      • @Tyn123, your question is a legitimate concern, ‘cos I was also wondering about Chinese artistes who are part of Korean pop-groups. Will they be asked to curtail their activities under the Korean groups like albums, concerts etc.? After all, they may still have contractual obligations to fulfill.

        Unfortunately, some posters here are overly sensitive, and do not seem to understand that some of us here don’t follow nor are interested to follow their faves so closely to even bother to access their Chinese sns or ig or whatever. Some of us here don’t even read Chinese or even Korean for that matter! We just like to watch Korean dramas and movies and listen to kpop.

      • I guess some commenters on this thread are obviously connected to China or has emotional attachment to China. Therefor they sound oversensitive or defensive over Chinese sanction. It’s understandable though. For most of us, this whole sanction stuff is just a political (or I believe more business than political) drama in showbiz. But for those who are related to China, it may be as huge as national pride. So they need to defend. Of course.

  11. What’s going to happen to Scarlet Heart? Doesn’t seem like it will air there after all but wouldn’t the ones at loss be the Chinese company who paid so much to buy the rights for the drama? And it should already have been approved since they’ve been planning it snce months ago.

    • It’s named TV productions involving specified SK actors which are banned. Out of the list I feel bad for Choo Ja Hyun, she moved to China years ago, married a Chinese actor and her acting career practically entirely out of China. Other Korean actors can find work in Korea unlike her.

  12. aiisssh .. what happened? what will happen to Gu Hye Sun’s new chinese drama The Legendary Tycoon, i’ve been waiting to watch it *tear*
    I hope she had getting paid, she finished her drama last year.

  13. China have conflicts with many countries in Asian pacific,so they need allies. I don’t understand why south Korea still send so many artist in there,they even already strengthen their weapons in pacific ocean.

  14. If I can understand all the names in Chinese blacklisted above….who are these actors and dramas blocked? I would guess Park Ha Jin and Ji Chang Wook might be in the list since they were currently very active in China.

    No surprise! Isn’t that what the international bully China is like? Such a political drama queen!

  15. I can’t help thinking Chinese authority is so desperate in defending their status as the regional lord of power. Just look at how they were over-reacted to TWICE girl’s flag incident and this time, even go all over the top to stretch their octopus muscle.

  16. Wow! Everything else aside, I would imagine this will put an end to the current trend of preproducing dramas, and will really hurt ones like Scarlet Heart that put in so much effort because they expected a bid financial benefit from airing in China.

    We sometimes forget because China has made such economic strides and their cultural products have become popular globally, that they are still a dictatorship that can and does crackdown on their people and their freedoms with brutal force whenever the mood takes them. Vile.

    • I knew that Scarlet Heart been sold to China at a record brreaking price and my assumption is that, it has been SOLD means either the drama going to be aired or not in China, the losses is on the Chinese broadcaster that is Youku while Scarlet production has gotten the payment enough to cover its production cost. Am I getting anything not right here?

      • I think you got it right, perhaps partially, depending on the contract between Youku and the Korean producer. For example, DotS K producer is still sharing broadcasting profits with the Chinese counterpart as long as the drama is still on the air. That’s why DotS has been making so much money for K showbiz.

    • Sadly his name is the first on the list, I wonder what will happen to that blockbuster show with 40 billion won cost! I read Jade Lover was listed as 1 of the top 10 drama works that garners buyers’ interest in 2016 Shanghai TV Festival…

    • I don’t think much financial loss will be incurred to LJS other than more opportunities to expose himself to Chinese audience. He’s supposed to have already got paid under contract. He’s still popular in SK and well loved by international fans from regions other than China. But his banned drama may put certain investors under the water financially since the ban means they won’t get to receive expected returns from their investment.

    • Not too much loss for LJS, he is already popular in China and hopefully he is paid by now except feeling disappointed that his acting & efforts won’t been showed but it’s truely hard for investors to accept it especially with this amount of money they had put in it.

  17. Honestly, I’m surprised at the responses. Banning Korean influence is probably the least important and impactful sort of “sanction” they can impose on South Korea. I don’t think it’s anything to be concerned about really. The average Chinese won’t care and international viewers won’t care. Only Hallyu stars stand to lose from this, and well, that’s none of my business.

  18. when the politics enter make everything worse seriously I hate politics when politicians think that divide and rule theory is making success by developing anger between people without concern about making them one unite, I admire the Far east Group for the economic development but some countries who considered the major powers as USA and Russia using those countries to make unnecessary political tensions seriously it isn’t enough for them destroying the middle east .
    I hope that Chinese authorities don’t ban Korean artists bcz some political issues can be resolving .

    • Then I’d be curious about Ji Chang Wook’s currently airing drama Whirlwind Girl 2. I’m watching that childish drama for his sake. LOL. Does it mean WG 2 will be put to hold?

      • I guess his other drama is listed here, I don’t remember the name something like “my male God?”.

  19. For those who are curious about the list, I can recognize most, but not all of the actors/actresses names on the list. Hopefully this would still help though. They are Lee Jong Suk, Ji Chang Wook, Rain, Yoo In Na, Krystal, Jang Hyuk, Park Min Young, Goo Hye Sun, Go Jun Hee, Kim Tae Hwan, Choo Ja Hyun, Joo Won, Lee Seung Hyun, Jung Il Woo, Joo Jin Mo, Chae Rim, Lee Da Hye, Lee Tae Hwan, Choi Ji Woo, Han Chae Young, Choi Siwon, Kim Tae Hee, Jang Na Ra, Jang Dong Gun, Park Hae Jin, Kangta, and Han Ji Suk.

    • Oh dang! I didn’t expect Jang Hyuk to be on the list too. He’s such a great actor. I feel sorry for his Chinese fans. But perhaps in the future we will have the hindsight. At least, that means our favorite K actors/actresses will show their faces more frequently in K dramas rather than doing crappy C dramas????

    • I’m surprised Song Hae Kyo , jun ji Huyn are not on the list
      Jang huyk is now becoming my top list actor , BM is the drama that lead me to him and I felt in love with this guy like love at first sign !!!
      Good if he can’t come to China then he will focus more in Korea hehe

    • This seems to be a list of Chinese-Korean co-produced dramas starring the Korean actors/actresses named above. The dramas may have already finished filming or are still in the works.

      As Scarlet Heart is a Korean production, the drama and its actors are not on the list. But will Scarlet Heart get to be aired in China in August as originally planned? For UF which is currently airing in China, I read that fan meetings for UF’s actor/actress in China were cancelled by the Chinese organiser.

      JJH and SHK are not in the list as they probably did not participate in any Chinese-Korean productions, or if they did (?), the productions have not yet been aired.

      • Sorry, I meant that if they had participated in any Chinese-Korean productions, the productions are not those that have not yet been aired.

  20. I wondered why, South Korean actors were flooding China’s gates, knowing their relationship with S. Korea’s enemy…N. Korea?

    China’s dramas are like USA dramas, they tend to run violent. I think I will ban China’s dramas, and support South Korean dramas and South Korean actors. I have to be honest, out of all the Asian county’s, South Korea rocks, in my opinion. I cut my teeth on Goong and never have looked back. Thank you South Korea for all your sweet wonderful dramas.

    • The reason why all the Koreans are all heading to China is because it’s known they are paid up to 10x as much as they get in South Korea. China is a huge money maker for them.

      As much as some fans are upset, I read that during a survey of 280,000 Chinese most of them 86%) are very willing to give up Korean dramas and k-pop because they are more loyal to their country. I guess entertainment is one thing, the Chinese are fiercely loyal to their country.

  21. Just came back from several online forums. There’re already heated arguments between C-netizens and K-netizens on popular ent forums such as NetizenBuzz. I really hate politics or religion to get in the showbiz. C’mon, why so petty, Chinese authority???

    • Entertainment always was a propaganda tool for politics. Everywhere. Not just in China lol This is called “real world”.

      • Not in the US though. Here nobody gives a shit to barking dogs on the Hill if those dogs can only bark not watching door. LOL…Not every country is like China. Nope! I should say China is not like other countries, democratic countries.

      • @Drama2016

        In fact countries like the US damaging the image of “democracy” with its big imperialistic war mongering “I am the world COP” attitude. Can’t even name a single US president who hasn’t started his own war against another country, who hasn’t destroyed and created rivers of blood.
        Obama + Hillary: Lybia, Syria, Yemen (through Saudi Arabia)
        Bush + Rice: Iraq, Afghanistan
        Clinton + Madeleine: Yugoslavia, Sudan

      • @Drama2016

        please the US not an exception. In fact countries like the US damaging the image of “democracy” with its big imperialistic war mongering “I am the world COP” attitude. Can’t even name a single US president who hasn’t started his own war against another country, who hasn’t destroyed and created rivers of blood. Obama + Hillary destroyed Lybia, Syria, Yemen (through Saudi Arabia). Bush + Rice detroyed Iraq and invaded Afghanistan.
        Clinton + Madeleine Allbright destroyed Yugoslavia and bombed Sudan. And the list continues to the infinity.

  22. Lee Min Ho is perhaps biggest victim in all of this mess and won’t even be surprised if China finds way to let him in despite the ban on-going. He has almost half his international minoz followers in China which is almost 30-million fans of his total around 64-million followers. We all saw how they came out of the woodwork for Bounty Hunters.

    If his not given permission to enter then he will have to find other means to enter china… You can’t just separate a man and his fans. perhaps trying out H-movie Co-production or just H-movies will let him in back again

  23. Everytime the name China government comes up im itchy all over my body , until when who can stop that greedy power hungry government
    From the dispute over sea incident to this
    It is so low to target the entertaining industry when you can’t win over politics
    Lolzz
    China you want everyone to be feared of you but you act like a kiddo , lmaf

  24. maybe this is the end of hallyu and others may follow. everything has it’s time limit where it goes up and down. they will have to adjust overturn this one

  25. Song Joong Ki supposedly lost a huge pay day to do a period C-drama

    It’s only a loss had he been interested in the project. He wasn’t, his agency’s confirmed they didn’t discuss any C-drama and the supposed rumor was the first time they even heard about the amount of this supposed pay. He’s booked all the way through 2016 because of Gunhamdo’s filming schedule in any case. Mighty convenient for the production company or whoever’s spreading this rumor to blame it on this supposed blacklist.

    • I was confused reading that single line of statement about his huge loss. I’m pretty sure just read several news reports recently; his agency clarified he hadn’t considered any acting projects except for the K film Battleship Island since DotS and therefore there’s no where to be affected by the ban. Nowadays, there’re random news reports every day everywhere about his update and many are obviously quoting wrong information.

    • @shameless and silly koala
      either you both are just bashing or eng comprehension is low.Note before both go ape sheeeeet…I said ENGlish not IQ.
      The term “supposedly” is in there.READ.

      • @shameless and silly koala are the same person. lmao. she/he probably 10.not worth replying.

  26. It makes sense for China to protect its own interests. Every country does it. Just couldn’t understand why Hallyu was so big in China? It’s about time to mimic the Japanese and tone it down. Money was too easy to earn for some K-stars.

  27. It also makes sense for S. Korea to collab with the US to beef up their defense system. LOL..What’s the point to justify one country’s action but not the other? Laughing!

    • Did not you get it? For one, I was questioning your desire to criticize only China’s concern about THAAD when in fact the US have been doing the same for many years. If you were really concerned about “bullying” behaviors of some country (namely CHN) then you shouldn’t left out US too. That’s why I am bringing up America.

    • Just look at Syria. What have the US, its lap dogs Saudi Arabia and such, done to once peaceful and secular country of Syria? The US, “the voice of democracy and freedom”, is arming, financing, backing so called “moderate” head choppers, who are in fact just disguised Al Qaeda terrorists. “Moderate rebels” of America behead underage kids, eat war prisoner’s heart, put them in cage and torture them. The US always whine about human right issues in other countries but act blind and deaf on LGBT people rights in Saudi Arabia, America’s biggest weaponry importer. Saudi Arabia is a barbaric, medieval country with awful human right, gender equality, non-existent LGBT, muslim whahhabism country. Yet the US befriends and makes love with Saudi Arabia. Why?

    • Why american democrats didn’t choose Bernie Sanders, possibly the most clean image and just a better candidate, over Killary Clinton, who is a liar, war criminal, war monger, blood thirsty sadistic evil creature? Because they are (most of them) like her too…?

      • IMO his/her thought are logical not racial to want to specify it to a special folk, even though there is no problem if Chinese or Muslims want to share their ideas ( IMO the truth)

      • If you can’t attack the argument, attack the person. In logic we call this “ad hominem”… Classic and perfectly understandable my dear, don’t beat yourself up! 😉

      • How about neither chinese nor muslim nor a brainwashed, naive minded north american with shallow knowledge on this and that? lol Sometimes we call this naive minded, brainwashed, netflix-fed americans “aquarium fish” XD These aquarium fish folks don’t realize they live in some transparent wall water aquarium with illusion of freedom and democracy. They don’t realize their mainstream US media kind of behave like unbiased, censor-free voice of multiple opinions when they cover only some domestic, non-geopolitical stuff such as entertainment, celeb life, major league, and so on. Bu the moment something is related to geopolitics, US foreign policy, US military and geopolitical and strategic interest and such, their media immediately turns into blatant fierce “party line” (read “american exceptionalism and dominance line”) propaganda loudspeakers be it republicans or democrats or neocons lol Blind and ignorant naive muricans. They whine about democracy but their government sides with islamic extremistst. They whine about freedom but their government sides with barbaric regimes of Saudi Arabia. Fun people XD

      • @Bobby, you should stop your desparation trying to persuade ppl with your brain washed points of view. I wonder where you’re currently staying. I guess you’re not in China since otherwise you wouldn’t be able to google and exercise freedom of speech like you’ve been doing on this forum. I came across quite a number of Chinese folks here in the US. They received almost the same rights as other residents or foreigners residing in the land, enjoying opportunities to excellent education and freedom that they would not be able to enjoy in their own motherland. But still despicably enough, they oftentimes mock and criticize the country they are currently dwell in and always wish China to beat over the US in everything. Nevertheless, ALL OF THEM CHOSE TO BE AMERICAN CITIZENS. What’s the reason for that? Much irony! I’m really sick of your long ass speech and mine as well. We should all put a period to these frivolous debates. It’s not gonna change anything. THAAD will be there in SK and disputes will continue. K actors won’t be dead or broken bcos China bans their business. Life goes on. LOL

      • @Drama2016

        I dunno who is more brainwashed between the two of us lol You seem to miss my points.

        Remember, the illusion of democracy and freedom inside your aquarium is supported by creating chaos, wars and conflicts abroad. I am not talking about “chinese who chose to be american”. I don’t care about them nor others who are going to America lol

        Well you obviously don’t know much (and will never understand) about the stuff I am talking about. My bad, I forgot I am on damn drama lovers blog full of young naive Jans LMAO Even worse, they are brainwashed muricans XD Adios, babe.

  28. Other than feeling sorry for the actors and their fans who are anticipating the dramas, I am looking at this news positively.

    I have never like collaborations, be it in dramas or movies. They are at best money making machines and usually devoid of adding anything to the art. The Chinese won’t cast any Koreans, no matter how popular, in their best productions. Try imagine Lee Min Ho or Kim Soo Hyun in something like Nirvana in Fire. To be fair, neither would the Koreans or any other country in their entertainment industry.

    I don’t think the blacklist is permanent of course but in the meantime, the Chinese can focus on making more dramas of better quality and create their own C wave or whatever. And the Koreans can return to find projects that elevate their acting skills or attend classes to improve them.

    • +1. You hit the nail on the head. We may have this hindsight in the future.

      At first I was misled by the news that this ban was politically motivated. But now think about it, the sanction is more for business reasons than political protesting. As I said, Chinese authority aren’t dumb to just target on showbiz that has no significant impact on Korean foreign policy. But I read some news about the reaction inside C ent to the ban (assuming these reports are accurate). Many C drama production professionals welcome the ban and they whine about difficulty to collab with K actors/actresses. The ban will give native acting talent more opportunities to take leading roles. The production of C dramas can also improve at lower costs.

      I’ve been watching several C/K collabs. The dubbing is really awkward for all the cases. For excellent dramas like Nirvana in Fire, dubbing doesn’t bother me at all since the dubbing isn’t that off of the actual lip movements. But man, dubbing Korean actors like Park Hae Jin and Ji Chang Wook is just pain in the ass to watch. LOL. Also, these top K actors usually just took inferior C dramas to be the leading men. JCW’s currently airing Whirlwind Girl 2 is a make-believe child play. LOL…I don’t see any challenge in this drama for JCW to grow as an actor. WG 1 was like a campus drama too but it was well written, well cast, and well executed; WG 1 also elevated the Chinese OTP’s acting careers. I even wonder WG 2 wasn’t penned by the same writer. It just argh to watch a good actor like JCW in such a childish drama. LOL

      • @mimi, LOL..his face is even more beautiful and delicate looking than the leading girl….with all the BB cream….hahahahahaha

  29. I dont really feel bad for S. Korea. They treat their Chinese idols like sh*t anyways. Less pay rate, crappy hours, and no lead roles. In fact, hardly any foreigns get lead roles in Korea. And these foreigners get criticized for their foreign attitude/mindset and for not being fluent in Korean. And then you have these top K-actors/actress and idols who go to China and get major bank without having to learn the language (+ they get higher payrate + good treatment).

    • You do realize you have to be able to speak Korean fluently to land a lead role in a Korean production? Whereas in Chinese productions, dubbing allows foreigners to take roles without speaking the language.

  30. There is no way Lee min ho will be blocked. He is practically a Chinese favorite. Bet on it. He is a household name who got the highest rating in the National show of China and the only Korean who even participated in it. Good luck to others though, especially SM idols.

  31. Moon Lovers will broadcast in China as the Chinese Government already has given authorization prior to this mess. LJG is not on the banned list either. In fact he left for China this weekend for a week of scheduled appearances.

    As to the poll regarding banning Korean actors. It isn’t hard to get 80% + supporting the decision when you ONLY poll party members.

    Had China not wanted this it would have been easy to avoid by clamping down on N. Korea. Despite S Korea repeatedly asking China to intercede with N. Korea’s nuclear threats, China chose not to do a thing so they have no one to blame for Thaad but themselves.

    China’s economy is in trouble which is why they are trying to steal the area in the South China Sea. Islands and reefs which were already designated years ago as belonging to other countries. China’s interest is in the controlling the sea lanes and grabbing the Oil and gas reserves that lie on the ocean floor in that area. Just imagine how much of a bully China would be if it controlled the hipping lanes in one of the busiest sea lanes in the world.

  32. It’s not solely bcos of THAAD. I’m pretty sure China are taking precautions for other factor too. The Korean drama/pop are influence too much in China. It’s a threat to socio and economy too. I read in news that cases happened chinese women divorced bcos of crazy in love with a korean singer. Television can be a dangerous media tool for propaganda for a country security. You might find it crazy or amusing. But to handle a country of 14 Bio peoples any small mis perception can be fatal. i know chinese authority always been strict in drama sencorship. I can understand them for doing such measurement.

  33. I tried to give +1000000000000 to Pink’s comment above but failed. Koala’s playground hasn’t worked as supposed to recently when I tried to comment or reply. Anyhow, Pink elaborated what I want to say. Glad there are still level-headed drama fans. LOL

  34. I do not really see the effect other then loss job offers to South Korean actors. Many Chinese citizens will still be able to watch their Korean stars on Youku and other sites if they want to.

    I never liked watching a Chinese drama starring a Korean or non Chinese speaking star. No matter how close in culture, no matter how good acting the looks stick out liking a sore thumb. If Korea could go against non Korean speaking stars in their dramas no reason why China can’t. Now is a good start and good excuse.

    I would rather them hand the job to a local to let them have more chance to shine and raise their popularity rather than pay extra to hire a popular foreign star. With poor communication due to translation if dialogues and unable to communicate directly makes things difficult for everyone. The dramas don’t get that popular either.

    About THAAD, SK has their rights to put it up if their citizens even approve(SK citizens are disapproving the thing and protesting publicly daily due to the impact it will cause and it’s not loss of hallyu star jobs in China). Only party benefiting is USA. China also has their rights to do what they want to show their dislike for this plan. They don’t hurt their citizens as much to ban Korean stars in their own films than SK do to their by installing this system.

    • Agree. While I’m neither Korean or Chinese, I’m not too fond of the trend of having Korean actors playing Chinese characters in Chinese productions, partially for the similar reason. Just like I despised Zhang Zhiyi playing a Japanese in Memory of a Geisha. But I’m not gonna dwell on that since the Chinese producers choose to deploy Korean actors due to their alleged popularity. (Though I have also read that it’s more expensive to sign top Chinese actors compared to their equal Korean counterparts).

      Anyway, sorry if someone has posted this in the upper posts, but there is another interesting angle on this topic http://www.whatsonweibo.com/humiliating-korean-k-swiss-commercial/

    • I don’t disagree re: Koreans in Chinese productions, but to have a government be able to mandate this is just ick. A reminder of the continued power of the state in China if anyone needed the reminder.

      • I think it’s very typical in China so most are use to it. China government doesn’t like showing stories where talks super black white switching of historic figures and a drama version of published book needs change names of characters and redo script to seek approval before they can film. Theres much more grumbling on this because that has messed up quite a lot of my beloved books. They don’t like too much dead or sorcery things and you don’t get watch that on TV drama anymore (can watch on Youku though).

        If they think something is bad influence to their citizens they will ban. Consider it like a parent wanting to filter things for their kids.

        When we hear these we just laugh it off because really have too much ways to watch.

        To China it’s hitting too many birds with one stone, and most of their citizens cheer too. You get to promote national loyalty, make more jobs for locals, showing dislike for some matters, and the list goes on.

      • @chancy426. Exactly. It’s very rare (or maybe zero) in chinese production about ghost possesion/spirits/black magic compared to Thailand production. As I understand, the govt don’t like people believing about witch craft or ghost in body possesion.

  35. great comments and I have learnt lots here… I am no business major, and I am not Chinese… but every job offer comes with a price tag. Why would the Chinese want to pay for a foreigner while there are abundances of good C-actors & actresses? What is the benefit? As an audience, we can still watch our favs regardless of it’s a C, K or J drama… the only person losing will be the K-artist because I read that the Chinese offers higher pay than the Koreans?

  36. Im kinda glad SJK not going to China. I want to hear his voice not dubbed. Im sure it is huge paycheck but doubt that it will help his quality as an actor. Ji chang wook’s tornado girl project.. Disappointing.

  37. Aw! Sad! There were a few series I wanted to watch and was waiting for them to air! I guess that’s cold turkey now! Oh I’m sad for myself and the actors! 🙁

  38. Oh forgot to add! They should just air those series. Isn’t it also bad for their own actors and actresses? I mean, there are fans out their that want to see their actors/actresses in those series. I don’t like this blacklisting, but if they are going to, they should do it after they air those series. After all, isn’t it China themselves that brought the so called problem on themselves?

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