▲ (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- Speculation is growing over whether K-pop concerts could be held in China as early as next month, raising hopes of a shift in China’s long-standing “Korean Wave ban,” which has been in place for about nine years since 2016.

 

According to music industry sources on Tuesday, four major South Korean entertainment agencies—Hybe, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment—have recently received inquiries regarding possible concerts in China next month.

 

A JYP Entertainment official said there had been no confirmed event offers, adding that the company had only received inquiries about artist availability in January.

 

Hybe, SM and YG are also said to have received similar inquiries.

 

Earlier, Rep. Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea, the ruling party’s floor secretary on the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, posted last month that Chinese President Xi Jinping showed a positive response to the idea of K-pop performances in Beijing during a banquet at a Korea-China summit. The remark fueled expectations for expanded cultural exchanges and a possible easing of the ban.

 

Park Jin-young, chairman of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee, also wrote on social media that he was pleased to meet President Xi and thanked him for listening attentively, expressing hope that further dialogue could help bring the people of the two countries closer through popular culture.

 

▲ Park Jin-young, chairman of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee, speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping as President Lee Jae-myung looks on, in this photo posted on Park's Instagram. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

If a large-scale K-pop concert were to be held in China, it would mark the first such event in about nine years since the informal ban was imposed in 2016. China has maintained the restriction as an unofficial retaliatory measure against South Korea following the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula.

 

While foreign nationals who are K-pop stars have occasionally appeared on Chinese television programs, concerts by K-pop groups have not been permitted. Instead, small-scale fan meetings without performances have been held sporadically.

 

A government official, however, said there are no confirmed plans at this time for holding K-pop concerts in China.

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