South Korean pop stars could become among the first to feel the chill from political tension in the wake of Seoul’s decision to deploy a US-developed missile shield, which Beijing strongly opposes.
Two sources at TV stations in Guangdong province told the South China Morning Post they had received orders from the national media watchdog that new approvals for programmes featuring South Korean pop stars would not be granted in the near future.
“They told us to postpone any plans for new programmes that involve South Korean stars or copyright for South Korean TV shows,” one source said. “They said we would not get approval, even if we made such plans.”
The source said the order was passed on verbally a few days ago by officials from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the mainland regulator responsible for TV censorship.
Another industry insider involved in distributing South Korean dramas said it was now “almost impossible” to obtain approval for content from regulators, although programmes that had already been endorsed would not be affected.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:en.yibada.com)
