This photo, provided by tvN, shows a poster for the Korean television series “Wise Doctor Life.”
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — A major Chinese TV network is expected to air Korean dramas next year, set to join other streaming platforms that have opened their doors to Korean entertainment content after a yearslong cultural freeze.
Anhui Satellite TV said Tuesday on its official Weibo account that “Thai and Korean dramas will return after several years,” asking its followers to leave posts about their most-wanted lists.
The nationwide satellite TV based in China’s Hefei and Anhui province was one of main broadcasters that had aired popular Korean dramas before Beijing placed a tacit ban on them in 2016 amid a diplomatic row over Seoul’s deployment of American missile system.
The network added to a list of Chinese broadcasters and streaming services that have released Korean dramas and films following the first summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-November.
During the summit that took place in Indonesia, Yoon stressed the importance of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries’ peoples, to which Xi expressed agreement, according to the South Korean presidential office.
Local industry officials have since raised cautious hope over further inroads into China, a major entertainment market, after a six-year boycott on Korean content.
There has been speculation over Beijing’s reopening to Korean content in recent years, but only a handful of films and dramas returned to Chinese platform since last year.
This month, several popular Korean drama series, including “Wise Doctor Life,” “Twenty-Five, Twenty-One” and “Strong Girl Bong Soon,” became available on iQIYI, China’s leading video platform.
In November, Tencent Video presented director Hong Sang-soo’s 2018 film “Hotel by the River,” making it the first Korean film distributed on any Chinese video platform since 2016.
(Yonhap)
