Girl group EXID to make debut in China amid freeze on Hallyu

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 14, 2016, 17:18 Updated : December 14, 2016, 18:01

[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]


Popular girl group EXID will release the Chinese version next week of "Cream" from the group's first studio album, the group's management agency said Wednesday amid growing jitters in South Korea at a ban imposed by Beijing on K-pop contents.

The song, included in EXID's album "Street" released in June, will be unveiled through Chinese online music service provider QQ Music on December 20, Banana Culture Entertainment said. A related music video will be released on the same day through Weibo, the Chinese counterpart of Facebook, and other social media websites.

The girls made their debut in February 2012 and unexpectedly gained success after their 2014 single "Up & Down" which went viral in South Korea, China, and other Asian countries. 

EXID's sudden debut in China comes at the height of a simmering diplomatic row over the planned deployment of a US missile shield in South Korea that hurt ties between Seoul and Beijing and led to a freeze on the official distribution of South Korea's pop culture wave "Hallyu" in China.

It's not clear how EXID will be allowed to bypass Bejing's unofficial but outright restrictions on Hallyu, although the group's agency in Seoul relies on its Chinese parent company, Banana Project, that will exclusively take charge of EXID's activities in the mainland. 

"We are just preparing for EXID's official debut in China as we planned," Kim Bo-min, Banana Culture's PR head, told Aju News, taking a cautious attitude about a sensitive political issue. 

"We have yet to get any feedbacks on this matter from our office in China," she said, stressing only that her company belongs to an influential Chinese entertainment group.

EXID has performed at TV music shows and other events in China only with the Korean version of hit songs but never with any Chinese version.

In the worst-case scenario, EXID may not be allowed to perform in China, but Kim said the group's initial goal is to spread a Chinese-language song and music video among Chinese fans.    
 
"We would like to focus more on the fact that EXID is making its official debut in China with a Chinese version. Their actual activities in China are not so important," Kim said.
 
Aju News Lim Chang-won and Park Sae-jin
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