. . angry . .

[:: Read below and be prepared to hop in anger *grr* ::]

China Starts to See Backlash Against Korea Wave
Posted by Sunset in Quilt

China is beginning to see a backlash against a Korean pop culture boom there, and parts of the Chinese press and some local stars are decidedly hostile.

During an audit of the Korean Embassy in Beijing, Uri Party lawmaker Chung Eui-yong said while there was nothing wrong with being proud of the Korean boom in China, it was an exaggeration to think Korean soap operas dominated the entire mainland. Korea should take a more modesty attitude in its relations with China, Chung added.

Rep. Kim Boo-kyum from the ruling party pointed to Chinese attempts to curb the spread of the Korean pop culture there, saying that the Chinese government applies strict standards to the import of cultural products with regulations and a set of official "opinions on the introduction of foreign capital into the cultural industry."

Korean Ambassador to China Kim Ha-jung replied some of Korean culture originally came from China, and many Chinese people criticized Korea's claim to authorship of it.

Chinese actor Zhang Guoli on Saturday complained the Korean historical soap "Daejanggeum (the Jewel in the Palace)," a runaway success on the mainland, portrayed acupuncture as a Korean invention although it was developed in China. Zhang said the press should give less coverage to Korean stars and more to Chinese performers.

Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan also urged the Chinese media to support Chinese stars so they can compete with Hollywood and the Korean wave, saying all Korean newspapers were promoting Korean stars.

What is the matter with those people in the movie industry~?! Can't they just leave Koreans alone?! So what if Korean movie industry is enjoying the hypes in many foreign countries other than themselves? They had been under the shadows of Hollywood and Hong Kong for so long, this time they are able to outshine most of them after some hard work and they got criticised and bashed by them??

Seriously speaking, being a Chinese myself, though a Singaporean, I was totally embarrassed by the actions of those in the articles. How can they be so narrow-minded? Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of the time, I'm hearing that Korean actors and actresses looked up to those experienced China directors and Hong Kong actors and hope to be like them!

Recently while watching a Kdrama, Let's go to School, Sangdoo, there were a couple of times HK actors were featured. First, the little girl misttook Joey Wang Zu Xian as her biological mother as her heart locket contains a picture of her and cried whether she learnt the truth. Then there was this one scene where Sangdoo was walking on the street when suddenly, in the background, showed a poster of Jackie Chan's movie on one of the public buses. I rewind back to confirm it was his movie and for a moment, felt proud for Chinese. Now, I'm totally embarrassed by them..

Does Jackie Chan even knows that or not? Or they only judged by the recent figures and reports from media due to April Snow? Yes, we have 2 Korean movies (Bittersweet Life and April Snow) fighting box office sales with The Myth (even Jackie Chan's movie starred a Korean actress, Kim Hee Soon!), but so what? If they are good enough, why scared? It's all about competition and whoever is better, wins the race. So what should they do now? Improve.. improve.. and be better than each other!!

No offence to anyone in particular when writing this entry, but really had it with the critics over Korean wave that is soaked with nothing but jealousy!!