Korea-China content business in ‘rapid freeze’…Private sector exchange also in freeze
Kim Soo Yeon | newsnews@ | 2017-03-08 14:05:10
China``s economic retaliation against Korea for the Theater of High Altitude Area Defense Missile (THAAD) deployment has been increasingly intensifying as exchange cooperation between government and private sector of China and Korea is lagging behind.
It is imperative to prepare countermeasures against the Chinese ban on Korean products, which prohibits the import of Hallyu content into China, which is the largest export market of native content. However, the Korean government has not been able to set out any strict measures to the Chinese government``s consistent ‘dumb’ attitude. Besides, Korean content companies are also having difficulties in finding solutions as they are closing their mouths to the government, which is collecting damages. Korean content companies are concerned about ‘surveillance’ and retaliation by Chinese authorities.
According to industry sources on March 7, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Creative Content Agency (KCCA) have suspended one-on-one content cooperation projects with China. Investments and business alliances between the two countries have also plummeted. The Chinese authorities have also suspended issuance of licenses for Korean games import. The hallyu which is provided through the internet was also blocked by Chinese government.
Korea Creative Content Agency stated, ‘It is not easy to do business in China now,’ with regard to the ‘Korean content companies`` entry into Chongqing City,’ which was announced externally by 2017, until the end of last year.
Korea Creative Content Agency explained that in fact, it is impossible to cooperate with the government of the two countries. In early 2015, Chongqing city and Korea Creative Content Agency signed a MOU with Chongqing Cultural Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. to promote Korean content companies, and planned to enter Korean companies into Chongqing city under the negotiation with Chongqing Municipal Office.
The documentary production project of China and Korea by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has also been stopped. It became unclear whether the promotion of China``s business in the ``2016 International Broadcasting Cultural Exchange Support Project``, which produces a documentary based on the culture of the other country, is broadcasted locally in China. According to Korea Creative Content Agency, KBS-independent production consortium, which has been selected as a Chinese business operator, was planning to cooperate with China satellite broadcasting company. However, after the THAAD issue appeared, it could not conclude the contract itself and eventually informed Korea Creative Content Agency of partnership cancellation.
Private media content, on the other hand is also closing. The results of the government’s content - matching business, which was supposed to link Korean domestic content companies with Chinese companies, has showed a sharp decline after THAAD deployment. The number of business matches between Korean content companies and Chinese companies, supported by Korea Creative Content Agency, decreased for the third consecutive quarter last year. The number of business matches, which was 180 in the first quarter of last year, dropped to 146 in the second quarter of last year as the THAAD deployment became a major issue on the Korean peninsula. This is a decrease of 18.9% from the first quarter. The number dropped to 106, down 27.4% from the previous quarter in the third quarter of last year since the Korean government decided to deploy the THAAD,.
Recently, it has been predicted that it has also been banned from issuing new Korean games in China. The game cannot be served to China if it is permission is not received.
Besides, hallyu celebrity appearances and programs have been banned in China, and the latest hallyu that has been distributed via the internet was blocked by Chinese government. An account holder who a lot of Korean drama viewers has called ``Phoenix Angels TSKS Pyeongguksa`` recently has revealed that the update of the hallyu program has been stopped since last February 24 through Waybo (Chinese version twitter).
The problem is that this ‘block’ of Korean contents is being conducted through informal channels rather than through official documents of Chinese government.
Although the Korean government sends an official inquiry to confirm the facts of the Chinese authorities`` blocking of various hallyu contents, the Chinese authorities consistently mention that ‘It is the act of the Chinese people based on their feeling but not the government act.’
It is difficult to respond to complaints from the international community such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the Chinese government has not given any evidence so far.
It is also problem that makes it difficult for the Korean government to respond to Chinese governments’ so called ‘retaliation’ as Korean companies are not supporting with evidences to Korean government. An industry expert stated, ‘The Chinese National Newspaper, the Guangdong News Agency, is monitoring Korean news related to the THAAD to confirm a company that has a negative stance on China``s actions.’ An expert also added, ‘The Korean companies are not supporting the Korean government with evidences despite of Korean government effort.’
By Kim Soo Yeon newsnews@
[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]
It is imperative to prepare countermeasures against the Chinese ban on Korean products, which prohibits the import of Hallyu content into China, which is the largest export market of native content. However, the Korean government has not been able to set out any strict measures to the Chinese government``s consistent ‘dumb’ attitude. Besides, Korean content companies are also having difficulties in finding solutions as they are closing their mouths to the government, which is collecting damages. Korean content companies are concerned about ‘surveillance’ and retaliation by Chinese authorities.
According to industry sources on March 7, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Creative Content Agency (KCCA) have suspended one-on-one content cooperation projects with China. Investments and business alliances between the two countries have also plummeted. The Chinese authorities have also suspended issuance of licenses for Korean games import. The hallyu which is provided through the internet was also blocked by Chinese government.
Korea Creative Content Agency stated, ‘It is not easy to do business in China now,’ with regard to the ‘Korean content companies`` entry into Chongqing City,’ which was announced externally by 2017, until the end of last year.
Korea Creative Content Agency explained that in fact, it is impossible to cooperate with the government of the two countries. In early 2015, Chongqing city and Korea Creative Content Agency signed a MOU with Chongqing Cultural Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. to promote Korean content companies, and planned to enter Korean companies into Chongqing city under the negotiation with Chongqing Municipal Office.
The documentary production project of China and Korea by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has also been stopped. It became unclear whether the promotion of China``s business in the ``2016 International Broadcasting Cultural Exchange Support Project``, which produces a documentary based on the culture of the other country, is broadcasted locally in China. According to Korea Creative Content Agency, KBS-independent production consortium, which has been selected as a Chinese business operator, was planning to cooperate with China satellite broadcasting company. However, after the THAAD issue appeared, it could not conclude the contract itself and eventually informed Korea Creative Content Agency of partnership cancellation.
Private media content, on the other hand is also closing. The results of the government’s content - matching business, which was supposed to link Korean domestic content companies with Chinese companies, has showed a sharp decline after THAAD deployment. The number of business matches between Korean content companies and Chinese companies, supported by Korea Creative Content Agency, decreased for the third consecutive quarter last year. The number of business matches, which was 180 in the first quarter of last year, dropped to 146 in the second quarter of last year as the THAAD deployment became a major issue on the Korean peninsula. This is a decrease of 18.9% from the first quarter. The number dropped to 106, down 27.4% from the previous quarter in the third quarter of last year since the Korean government decided to deploy the THAAD,.
Recently, it has been predicted that it has also been banned from issuing new Korean games in China. The game cannot be served to China if it is permission is not received.
Besides, hallyu celebrity appearances and programs have been banned in China, and the latest hallyu that has been distributed via the internet was blocked by Chinese government. An account holder who a lot of Korean drama viewers has called ``Phoenix Angels TSKS Pyeongguksa`` recently has revealed that the update of the hallyu program has been stopped since last February 24 through Waybo (Chinese version twitter).
The problem is that this ‘block’ of Korean contents is being conducted through informal channels rather than through official documents of Chinese government.
Although the Korean government sends an official inquiry to confirm the facts of the Chinese authorities`` blocking of various hallyu contents, the Chinese authorities consistently mention that ‘It is the act of the Chinese people based on their feeling but not the government act.’
It is difficult to respond to complaints from the international community such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the Chinese government has not given any evidence so far.
It is also problem that makes it difficult for the Korean government to respond to Chinese governments’ so called ‘retaliation’ as Korean companies are not supporting with evidences to Korean government. An industry expert stated, ‘The Chinese National Newspaper, the Guangdong News Agency, is monitoring Korean news related to the THAAD to confirm a company that has a negative stance on China``s actions.’ An expert also added, ‘The Korean companies are not supporting the Korean government with evidences despite of Korean government effort.’
By Kim Soo Yeon newsnews@