K-pop drama 'Uncontrollably Fond' scores 4.4 bln views in China despite restrictions

By Park Sae-jin Posted : February 22, 2017, 15:01 Updated : February 22, 2017, 15:01

[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@]



South Korean drama "Uncontrollably Fond", starring Kim Woo-bin and Suzy, has scored an amazing 4.1 billion views on Youku, the Chinese counterpart of YouTube, despite Beijing's restrictions on Hallyu (Korean cultural wave) contents. 

The Youku view count of "Uncontrollably Fond" is very close to that of "Descendants of the Sun", another K-pop drama which led a syndrome in China and Asian countries last year. The Descendants of the Sun series recorded 4.4 billion views on iQUIYI, another popular online Chinese video service.

Only judging from the results, the two dramas seem as if they went off in the same condition, backed by an immense k-pop wave in China. But they took a different path. While Descendants of the Sun kicked off in China in February last year, backed by active promotion, Uncontrollably Fond had to keep a low profile with almost no publicity after the series were unveiled in China in July.

The distributor of Uncontrollably Fond canceled planned fan meetings and promotional events as Beijing tightened its censorship standards on Hallyu contents in retaliation for Seoul's decision to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Youku has cautiously aired it online. 

Compared to its poor showing at home, the popularity of Uncontrollably Fond in China was a bonanza for its producers. Experts believe Kim Woo-bin and Suzy, who have a strong Chinese fandom, pulled its popularity.

Although China has not issued open guidelines, they were strong enough to have Chinese media companies cringe from handling Hallyu contents. K-pop dramas were banned from online video services and promotional events have come to a halt.

However, China's enthusiastic K-pop fans have rushed to upload the latest episodes of new K-pop dramas such as "Goblin" and "Hwarang" among other things. Their videos are edited into three to four-minute clips to evade censorship, carrying fan-made Chinese subtitles.

Park Sae-jin= swatchsjp@ajuinews.com
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