K-pop mogul Park Jin-young thanks China’s Xi for ‘kind words’ after meeting at APEC

Singer and co-chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, Park Jin-young, said he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and expressed hope that “the two countries’ peoples can come closer through popular culture and share more stories together.”

“I was truly glad to meet President Xi and speak with him,” the K-pop mogul said in an Instagram post on November 2. “I sincerely thank him for listening and offering kind words.”

A photo uploaded with the post shows Park standing alongside President Lee Jae Myung and President Xi, appearing to engage in conversation. The post was written in Korean and Chinese.

Park met Xi during a state dinner held on November 1 as part of the Korea-China summit, attending in his capacity as committee co-chair. Park, who debuted as a singer in 1992, founded a K-pop agency in 1997 that later came to be named JYP Entertainment — one of the biggest companies in the industry, home to boy band Stray Kids, girl group Twice and many more. He was named co-head of the committee for his decades of experience as an artist, producer and entrepreneur in K-pop.

Later on November 1, Democratic Party Rep. Kim Young-bae wrote on Facebook, “President Lee Jae Myung, President Xi and Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange leader Park Jin-young briefly spoke, and when the idea of a large-scale performance in Beijing came up, President Xi responded positively and called over Foreign Minister Wang Yi to give instructions.”

Kim added, “It may be the moment when not only the ban is lifted, but also the door opens wide for the full-scale expansion of K-culture.”

However, the presidential committee released a statement the next day, saying that the conversation between Xi and Park was “a polite exchange of pleasantries during a diplomatic event,” and cautioned against overinterpretation, calling it “premature and speculative.” The committee added, “As the Korea-China summit has helped boost the atmosphere of friendly cooperation between the two countries, we hope it will lead to more active cultural exchange in the future.”

The Korean pop industry sees a potential reopening of the Chinese market as a major opportunity. However, given the local market’s complexities, industry insiders are taking a cautious approach rather than jumping to conclusions.

China began unofficially banning Korean music, dramas and films around 2016 in retaliation for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system by U.S. forces in Korea. Since then, Korean pop acts have not been permitted to hold concerts in China.

While some K-pop stars of non-Korean nationality have occasionally appeared on Chinese television programs, full-fledged K-pop group concerts have not taken place. Instead, artists have only held small-scale fan meetings without live performances, and only on occasion.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]