Broadcasting in Japan and China
According to government and industry sources, the Chinese government is beefing up its regulations on broadcasting content distribution, while looking to maintain such existing regulations irrespective of the Korea-China FTA. In the meantime, a so-called anti-Korean Wave is emerging in Japan.
The Chinese government has limited imported TV dramas to 25 percent of daily broadcasting hours and prohibited foreign companies from investing in Chinese Internet service companies. No foreign corporation can directly provide any online game service in China, either. Besides, any imported TV drama to be aired from this year has to get permission beforehand for online distribution.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism of Korea is planning to raise a content fund of approximately 200 billion won (US$185.5 million) with China within this year so that broadcasting content invested in by the fund can be regarded as co-produced to avoid the restrictions. Still, such measures are less likely to be effective in actuality, because they cannot deal with the restrictions on Hallyu content created by means of Korea’s capital and technology. The Chinese government’s deliberation on online video footage takes at least six months, which is enough for illegal distribution to kick in.
Given the Chinese government’s attitude and the Korean government’s bargaining power, relaxation of the regulations through negotiations is a distant goal, too. This can be evidenced by the fact that the latter failed to cope with the blocking of Kakao Talk and Naver's Line in China last year. In this vein, it is planning to diversify the export of Korean indie music, animations, and webtoons to the Middle East, India, North America, Europe, and many more.