00:00BTS has returned to the stage after nearly four years, but China is conspicuously absent
00:06from the group's world tour, which kicked off Thursday.
00:09That absence comes down to an unofficial ban triggered by Seoul's deployment of a US anti-missile
00:15system.
00:17China argued the radar could be used to surveil its territory and has retaliated through cultural
00:23and economic restrictions.
00:24As a result, K-pop agencies restructured, shifting their focus to Japan and North America.
00:31Yet demand inside China has not disappeared.
00:35Some fans, like Wang Yuchen from Sichuan province, fly to Seoul for K-pop concerts.
00:41Like, every time I go to K-pop concerts, I go to Korea.
00:46As South Korean pop culture surged, Chinese authorities grew wary of foreign content shaping the minds
00:52of the country's youth and moved to build up domestic cultural industries.
00:57However, the ban may now be easing.
01:00South Korea's president has publicly called for its removal, and the two governments signed
01:05a cultural exchange agreement earlier this year.
01:09China remains a coveted market for K-pop, but is no longer an indispensable one.
01:22China remains a ritual ALI database IS AN
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