Beijing-based Yue Hua Entertainment was penalized by the Chinese government after Wang Yiren, a Chinese member of K-pop girl band Everglow, performed at an event for South Korean military troops in June last year, according to the South China Morning Post.

The K-pop girl band is produced and managed by Yue Hua Entertainment’s subsidiary in Korea.

The Chinese company is reported to have apologized Thursday for the negative influence it caused through its subsidiary firm Yue Hua Korea’s participation in an event for the Korean military. The company apologized for damaging national honor and added that it had received an administrative penalty. Yue Hua Entertainment, however, did not disclose details about the type of penalty it was given.

According to SCMP, since the company was punished for violating rules on foreign-related performances, the possible penalties range from a warning or fine to a suspension or cancellation of the right to conduct foreign cultural activities.

Yue Hua entered the Korean market in 2016 by establishing the subsidiary firm Yue Hua Korea. The subsidiary was created to create synergy by combining the Korean entertainment industry’s content producing capability and China’s vast entertainment market potential. To reach this goal, the Korean unit appointed Jung Hae-chung, a former head of Pledis Entertainment, which produces and manages popular K-pop boyband Seventeen, as its co-CEO along with Chinese entertainment industry expert Lee Sang-kyu.

The Chinese entertainment company had long been interested in the Korean market, even well before the establishment of its Korean subsidiary. In 2015, it collaborated with Korean entertainment company Starship,which manages K-pop girl band Sistar, to co-produced boy band UNIQ and girl band WJSN the following year.


By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)