Chinese fans are furious at TMEA for unilaterally canceling EXO’s long-awaited appearance in China

China’s Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) advertised EXO’s return to its awards ceremony for the first time in 6 years but suddenly canceled the appearance, sparking controversy.

China, which openly expressed anti-Korean sentiment over the establishment of the Korea-U.S. High Altitude Missile Defense System (THAAD) in 2016, has since begun an implicit ban on Korean Wave stars by effectively suspending their activities in China.

Six years later, on Dec 11th, it was reported that EXO would appear at the 2021 TMEA, a music awards ceremony hosted by China’s Tencent Music Entertainment Group. The news has received great attention not only in China but also in Korea.

Starting with EXO‘s appearance, there were also expectations that the frozen Korea-China relations would then enter a thawing mood, at least in the entertainment sector. However, on Dec 8th, TMEA deleted a poster predicting EXO Kai and Sehun‘s appearance from its Weibo official account, and removed their names from the online cast list.

For this reason, there were concerns that EXO‘s appearance might have been canceled, and eventually, EXO did not appear at the online event on Dec 11th. SM Entertainment did not officially receive any related calls from TMEA until Dec 8th.

Chinese fans, who have been waiting for 2021 TMEA to see EXO, are furious after seeing the awards ceremony, saying things such as “Tencent did a false advertisement,” “I waited all evening, but all I did was wasting my time,” and “The Korean Wave ban still remains.”

An official from the Chinese cultural industry told Yonhap News Agency, “We don’t know the details of the cancel of EXO’s appearance, but Chinese fans seem to be disappointed,” adding, “K-pop will also have good news soon as the Korean Wave is opening up in China in terms of games and movies.”