Korea Insists That China Stop Pirating Its Hit Program, Squid Game

Although Netflix hasn’t entered the Chinese market, this didn’t forestall its planetary hit, a Korean play Squid Game, from creating a roar successful China. Online buying sites filled with imitation derivative products from the drama. Korean officials are trying to support their intelligence properties.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has imposed a “Korean regularisation order” to retaliate against South Korea implicit its deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) rocket strategy from the United States 5 years ago. The sanctions are targeted astatine the importation of South Korea’s pop-cultural which has swept Southeast Asian countries and China. Since then, Chinese TV Stations nary longer aerial Korean TV programs, and astir Korean artists’ commercialized events had been canceled. Yet those sanctions person failed successful preventing Chinese businesses from pirating Korean programs and continuing to broadcast them connected the websites, often with Chinese subtitles and lone 1 time aft they premiere successful Korea.

China is notorious for its rampant piracy of intelligence properties. A existent illustration involves its pirating of Netflix’s planetary deed series, Squid Game. Although Korean entities ain the copyrights to this programme and its promotional materials, businesses successful China person been illegally profiting from its accelerated occurrence and increasing entreaty among viewers. This has sparked crisp criticisms from Koreans.

During a presumption to the Korean parliament connected Oct. 6, Jang Ha-sung, Korea’s ambassador to China said implicit 60 Chinese websites were illegally broadcasting Squid Game. A precocious measurement of viewers had besides been enabled to freely download videos designed to imitate the fashionable program. This was occurring earlier Netflix had adjacent entered the Chinese market.

Squid Game’s popularity successful China is undeniable. As of Oct.17, Weibo, the Chinese societal media site, had accumulated 2.06 cardinal hits successful effect to the topic, “Why is Squid Game truthful hot?”

Also undeniable is the program’s nett potential. An net hunt shows that aggregate Chinese retailers person trademarks pending for the accumulation and merchantability of Squid Game’s merchandising products similar masks, costumes, food, and different props. Some person already begun selling these products connected the Chinese tract Taobao, the Korean sites Coupang and G Market, and globally connected Amazon and eBay. A hunt connected eBay reveals implicit 20,000 imitation products from Squid Game.

On Oct. 14, Choi Hyeong-du, a subordinate of Korea’s National Assembly (People Power Party) called for an extremity to China’s pirating activities by requesting the “protection of intelligence spot rights.” He claimed that though the Chinese authorities whitethorn not person been involved, it had not prevented retailers from imitating and selling Squid Game properties. He said, “Just arsenic the U.S. released the database of countries that infringed connected its intelligence spot rights, we should besides openly disclose the cases of infringement.”

Similarly, a Korean National Assembly subordinate (Democrat Party), Jung Chung-rae, agreed connected the occupation with amerciable downloading of Squid Game successful China and elsewhere is serious, and “to revitalize the taste industry, amerciable theft indispensable beryllium prevented.” Jung noted that Korea’s BTS Boys Band was enabled to win lone due to the fact that of the prevention of escaped euphony downloads. Korea’s Squid Game should beryllium protected arsenic well.

During an Oct. 7 property conference, Choi Young-sam, a spokesperson for the Korean Foreign Ministry said his enactment was cooperating with the Beijing bureau of the Copyright Commission. They requested that the CCP instrumentality contiguous actions to halt the online piracy and amerciable income of Korean intelligence properties. He received assurances that actions would beryllium taken.

Also connected Oct. 7, Friends of Korea (VANK), a civilian nine group, launched a petition connected Change.org, the world’s largest online petition site. The petition asked for enactment successful requiring the CCP to forestall the amerciable organisation of Netflix’s Squid Game. The radical claimed that for the past 5 years, the CCP had ne'er established a argumentation to support the copyrights belonging to Korean producers of movies and TV shows. That China should enact measures to forestall repeated copyright infringements successful accordance with the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement.

Within 1 period aft airing connected Sept. 17, the Netflix Korean archetypal play “Squid Game” had achieved worldwide popularity. By Oct. 13, it was ranked astatine the apical of the “Today’s Viewers” charts successful 94 countries. It rapidly became Netflix’s archetypal and astir fashionable non-English play bid to pb the apical 10 successful the United States for 21 consecutive days. The deed programme portrays the lives of radical who are struggling to marque ends conscionable by competing successful six life-and-death games for a prize of astir $38 million.