Ok-pop has been banned in China for nearly a decade. Till now, possibly.
HONG KONG — The live performance was set to be small however important: the primary by an all-Korean Ok-pop band in mainland China after an unofficial ban on such exhibits for nearly a decade.
That was thrilling information for followers like Haerin Ouyang, a college scholar within the coastal Chinese language metropolis of Fuzhou, the place the South Korean boy band Epex had been scheduled to carry out on Saturday.
However the present was canceled earlier this month, lower than two weeks after it was introduced, leaving Ouyang “heartbroken.”
“The venue is just a 10-minute experience from my college, and it might have been enjoyable to go together with pals,” she stated.
C9 Leisure, which manages Epex, cited “native circumstances” in saying the cancellation on Could 9, dashing hopes that China was opening its doorways to Ok-pop exhibits for the primary time since 2016.
The ban, which China has by no means formally acknowledged, started after South Korea introduced the deployment of an American anti-ballistic missile protection system that China stated was aimed toward constraining its energy within the area.
Earlier than the ban, China — the second-biggest music market in Asia after Japan — was one of many fastest-growing markets for Ok-pop and different South Korean popular culture, whose speedy rise in international recognition is called the Korean Wave, or hallyu.
“Within the Ok-content and Ok-pop markets as nicely, China’s shopper energy is thought to be top-tier,” stated Kang Soyoung, a professor at Seoul Digital College.
The China ban is estimated to have price the South Korean economic system nearly $16 billion since 2016, she stated.
However the Epex live performance’s cancellation doesn’t essentially replicate the official place of the Chinese language authorities, Kang cautioned, as China has been regularly reopening to South Korean tradition after years of stress.
Whereas Ok-pop acts have been blocked, different South Korean bands have been allowed to play. In April, the South Korean hip-hop trio Homies turned the primary all-Korean act to carry out in mainland China in eight years. A South Korea-based Korean American musician in a one-man indie rock band carried out within the Chinese language cities of Xi’an, Wuhan and Zhengzhou in late 2024 and early 2025.
A big-scale Ok-pop joint live performance can be scheduled to be held in September at a 40,000-seat stadium within the Chinese language island province of Hainan. The Korea Leisure Producers’ Affiliation, which introduced the occasion in April, didn’t reply to an e mail asking whether or not that live performance continues to be going forward.
Kang stated she believed the hallyu ban would quickly be lifted and the Hainan live performance would “proceed with out challenge.”
There are additionally indicators of rising enterprise ties. Hybe, the South Korean leisure firm that manages the worldwide Ok-pop sensation BTS, not too long ago opened an workplace in Beijing, in response to South Korean media. On Friday, China’s Tencent Music was set to change into the second-largest shareholder within the different main Ok-pop label, SM Leisure, after Hybe stated in a regulatory submitting that it might promote Tencent its whole stake.
“It exhibits that there’s a higher alternative for collaboration between the 2 international locations, particularly within the leisure {industry},” stated Ellen Kim, director of educational affairs on the Korea Financial Institute of America. “It may be a place to begin for industry-level cooperation that might open extra doorways between the 2 international locations.”
The diplomatic thaw extends past tradition. In November, China stated it might grant visa exemptions for South Korean guests, and South Korea has stated it is going to do the identical for guests from China.
China’s rising friendliness towards South Korea may be partly motivated by the unstable scenario on the worldwide stage, Kim stated. Each international locations face more and more hostile and unpredictable U.S. commerce insurance policies below President Donald Trump.
As well as, China is fighting weak home consumption that will be aided by Ok-pop’s high-spending followers.
China has additionally been strengthening its personal leisure {industry} and has extra confidence in it, Kang stated, pointing to the record-breaking success this yr of the Chinese language movie “Ne Zha 2,” the world’s highest-grossing animated movie ever.
“It now has sturdy resilience in opposition to the ‘invasion’ of international content material,” she stated.
China’s potential thaw towards South Korean leisure comes because it additional restricts the variety of Hollywood movies allowed to be screened in its theaters in response to Trump’s tariffs.
China-South Korea ties may additionally get a lift from subsequent week’s South Korean presidential election. The front-runner, Lee Jae-myung, is taken into account friendlier to China than his predecessor.
“If he wins, it may be a matter of time that issues will change, which is able to enable the Korean entertainers to return into the nation and play their music,” Kim stated.