Park Jin-young meets Xi Jinping, sparking speculation over lifting of hallyu ban

Park Jin-young, co-chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a dinner at the Korea-China summit held alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, fueling speculation that China’s unofficial ban on Korean cultural content may soon be lifted. The committee, however, urged caution against overinterpretation. Park, the founder of K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment, shared a photo of his meeting with Xi on social media Sunday, writing, “I was truly glad to meet and speak with President Xi Jinping. I hope that through popular culture, our two peoples can grow even closer.” The message was also posted in Chinese. Rep. Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea wrote on Facebook that during the summit dinner, Xi responded positively to a suggestion from President Lee Jae Myung and Park about holding a large-scale concert in Beijing, even calling Foreign Minister Wang Yi over to give direct instructions. “It could mark a historic moment — not just the end of the Korean Wave ban, but the beginningWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times