Korean Movies Getting The Hollywood Treatment In Vietnam and China
The South Korean film industry is getting a taste of what censorship feels like for Hollywood in foreign markets:
The growing boom of South Korean soaps, films and pop songs in neighboring Asian states has had an unexpected and adverse effect on trade, government officials said Friday.
A high-level Vietnamese government official recently threatened to stop broadcasting South Korean television dramas unless the South’s TV networks introduce Vietnamese shows on a more equal basis, according to officials at the Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“South Korean soaps are aired on Vietnamese TV channels on a daily basis but Vietnamese TV programs have a scant chance to
be seen by South Koreans,” the unnamed Vietnamese official was quoted as saying.
“We may stop airing Korean programs in Vietnam if the current imbalance is not alleviated.”
China is also getting in on the Hallyu bashing:
Vietnam’s rigid stance appears linked to China’s views on the surging “Korean Wave”, known locally as “hallyu”.
A campaign for opposing hallyu and supporting China’s entertainment industry is reportedly under way in mainland China and Hong Kong under the initiative of international superstar Jackie Chan and movie actor Zhang Guo Li. The two stars’ influence in China is diminishing due to the popularity of rising South Korean stars.
Yes, Korea you have come a long ways. You have your own Korean film bashers now. Maybe that UN law wasn’t such a good idea after all.
