aespa Ning Ning under criticism for opening a Weibo account, China’s ban on K-culture resumes?
Backlash at aespa Ning Ning’s Weibo account opening signals a resumption of China’s ban on Korean culture.
On June 13, Chinese media Sina Entertainment reported an article summarizing a Chinese member of a Korean girl group being criticized for opening a Weibo account.
The Chinese member in question is aespa Ning Ning, who opened a Weibo account on June 11. Korean netizens assume that Ning Ning is preparing to return to China.
The media reported, “This behavior is considered ‘betrayal’ by Korean netizens. Some even appeal to Korean girl groups to exclude Chinese members”. The article reasoned that the biggest reason why Ning Ning opened Weibo was that she wanted to make forays into the Chinese entertainment industry.
The article continued, “The reason why Korean idol groups choose foreign members is that they covet overseas markets”, adding, “In particular, since China is the largest market, Korean agencies should not give up on the Chinese market and pour special attention”. For example, 800,000 of BLACKPINK’s 1.3 million solo albums were by Chinese fans.
Earlier, Hwang Chi Yeul said on an entertainment program that Chinese fans bought 100,000 albums on his birthday. In response, the media said, “A 100,000 [sold ablums] is 1 billion won. It’s a big gift for Hwang Chi Yeul, who is unknown in Korea”. They concluded that the achievement is “impossible without Chinese fans”.
Statistics show that Korean K-pop albums exported to China from January to April 2023 result in 18.91 million dollars (about 24.2 billion won), up 195.7% year-on-year. From the figure, the article concluded, “It is no exaggeration to say that Chinese fans feed most of the Korean entertainment industry”.
In response, Korean netizens responded with a conservative attitude, stating that Chinese celebrities who debuted in Korea are unique to Korea. The article added, “What is more upsetting is that [Korean netizens] were not very dissatisfied with Japanese and American foreigners who have left Korea”.
Recently, BTS Suga’s answer to a fan’s question gained attention on social media. When a fan asked him to come to China, Suga said, “But we can’t perform in China, how can I go tour in China?” He added, “Are there any Korean artists performing in China? I don’t think there are any”. He continued, “I want to go perform at all the places that ARMYs are mentioning. It makes me feel bad”, adding, “I saw some Chinese fans in the audience but I can’t perform in China”.
Earlier, various Korean artists could not proceed with their activities in China. Jung Yong Hwa failed to appear on a Chinese variety show, Hyuna had to cancel her performance in China, and Choo Ja Hyun was eliminated from a Chinese audition program. The series of incidents has sparked speculation about the resumption of “Hanhanryeong”, China’s ban on Korean culture.
Source: Daum
