KOREAN NET

- Korean Cultural Center (Shanghai & China) hosts Korean culture events
- Continued cultural events for fans of Korean content despite hardening Korea-China relations
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China recently announced plans to resume registration and approval for foreign commercial events; raising hopes for increased cultural exchanges between Korea and China

The Korean Cultural Center in China is leading the effort to open up China’s market for cultural events that were previously closed off to Korea due to THAAD controversy and COVID-19.

The Korean Cultural Center in Shanghai is hosting film music concert with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra's five Korean and Chinese musicians that will play 11 songs from 11 Korean and Chinese movies.

This concert will be held at Arirang Hall of the Korean Cultural Center in Shanghai with the theme of "Spring Tour with Songs from Korean and Chinese Movies" and will play main themes and songs from popular Korean and Chinese movies for the audience of approximately 400 people.

Musicians featured in this concert are from Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and they are: Cho Yoon-so (violin), Shin Oh-cheol (cello), Hu Li-han (piano), Li Chen-shuai (violin), and Sun Jin-nan (clarinet). Among the playlist is Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto), featured in Cannes’ Best Director awarded film Decision to Leave (2022).

Director Kang Yong-min of the Korean Cultural Center in Shanghai said, “The concert will feature professional orchestra musicians of China and Korea to play songs from popular movies from China and Korea, and we will continue to host movie festivals, photo exhibitions for actors, and musical events to build rapport and understanding among Korean and Chinese people to further bolster Korea-China ties.”

The concert is a follow-up to previous special events that the Korean Cultural Center in Shanghai had hosted along with the Korean Movie Festvial and Photo Exhibition with 200 Korean Actors. These Korean-movie inspired events are to expand the fan base for Korean culture in China.

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra members to participate in the Spring Tour with Songs from Korean and Chinese Movies: Cho Yoon-so (left), Li Chen-shuai (right)

The Korean Cultural Center in China successfully hosted an online K-pop concert on March 31.

The concert titled "ON THE K : ASSEMBLE," was held in the basement concert hall in the Korean Cultural Center in China at 7 PM on March 31. The tickets for 200 seats were sold out in just 21 seconds after it went on sale, highlighting the demand for K-pop in China.

This online concert was announced via official social media (WeChat) of the Korean Cultural Center in China and they were flooded with inquiries from the fans.

This concert featured pre-recorded performances by K-Pop groups such as AB6IX, Momoland, SUPER JUNIOR, KAI from EXO, and STAYC. Online concerts are not comparable to real performances, but it definitely affirmed Chinese fans demand for K-pop performances.

Director Yoon Ho-jin of the Korean Cultural Center in China emphasized the center's effort in enhancing the popularity of Korean content and expanding the influence of Korean culture through K-pop performances to the local fans.

ON THE K : ASSEMBLE (poster)

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China sent out a notice that the ministry will resume registration and approval process for foreign commercial events from 20th of this month; according to the notice sent out on the 16th. The Ministry added that this change is to contribute to the economy and society while facilitating recovery in the concert and event market and furthermore to satisfy the spiritual and cultural needs of the Chinese people.

Industry insiders from Korea and China said that such a move to open Chinese market to foreign events - simultaneously with easing of COVID-19 restrictions in China - will further revitalize cultural exchanges between Korea and China.

Performance by Korean artists in China has been halted for the last 7 years due to the THAAD controversy and COVID-19 restrictions. There had been many fan meet-ups and concerts by Korean idol groups in China during the early 2010s, but most of K-pop performances in China has been halted since 2017.

However, China still has a lot of appetite for Korean music, drama, movies, and games. NewJeans, a Korean girl group, ranked 1st on QQ Music Chart with "Ditto," and 2nd with "OMG." Also, Korean dramas such as "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and "Squid Game" were popular in China as well. BLACKPINK's concert in Hong Kong saw its ticket price soaring in the scalping market by 8 times the MSRP - highlighting the popularity of K-pop.

President Xi Jinping visited LG Display manufacturing facility in Guangzhou while he was visiting Guangdong area on the 12th. This is a rare occurrence as President Xi visited Korean company in China only a handful of times since assuming the office in 2012.

CCTV also aired an interview with Korean business person while running a segment on Canton Fair through their main news program, Xinwen Lianbo on the 16th.

Culture experts view the visit of President Xi to Korean company and CCTV’s interview with a Korean business person as China extending an olive branch to Korean companies to cooperate and to build better relationships.

The experts also remark their hopes that such an economic policy and friendly gestures by the Chinese government will further ameliorate Sino-Korean cultural exchanges and for the Korean Cultural Centers in China to kick off the waves of Korean cultural events and performances.