The difference in Hallyu after Lee Min-ho and Kim Soo-hyun's visit in China

Published on 2014/03/11 | Source

The Hallyu wave in China is changing rapidly. If Song Hye-kyo, Jun Ji-hyun and other female stars were in the spotlight in the 2000's, now it's all about the actors like Lee Min-ho and Kim Soo-hyun.

The second round of Hallyu Boom is coming about with the popularity of SBS "City Hunter" and "The Heirs" as well as "My Love from the Star".

The dramas alerted a new birth to a star. Lee Min-ho has experienced continuous success with "City Hunter" and "The Heirs", beating local Chinese artists and making it to the top star lane.

He starred in Chinese TV shows that only the most famous can star in and is recording over 20 million fans on his Chines SNS, Weibo. His Facebook has recorded over 13 million followers and this adds up to almost the whole population of Korea.

Kim Soo-hyun's popularity is unbelievable as well. A member of the standing committee spoke very highly of him in a debate and the Washington Post published an article about the effect his drama "My Love from the Star" has on China at the moment.

The spotlight is on Kim Soo-hyun. A new word has been created; 'xi' which is a formal way of calling someone's name in Korea, has just been created the way it's in China with no other native word to replace it. The ramyun he ate in the drama is so influential the stocks in the ramyun industry has moved a great deal.

China let out a private jet for him to fly over for a single episode of a TV show and 600 security personnel were dispatched for everyone's safety. The cost it took to get him over there to China adds up to about a billion won.

The power of these Hallyu actors is going down a different path from the past Hallyu wave. Korean actresses were usually the ones with power back in the 2000's.

With Kim Soo-hyun and Lee Min-ho in the lead, the Hallyu Wave in China is shifting.

Key East Entertainment believes that this effect is all thanks to the synergy effect caused by Kim Soo-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun who has had a base in China way before they even knew about him.