Photo: Screenshot of Douban

A South Korean film, Hotel By the River, has been launched on a video platform in China, following some South Korean TV dramas such as Itaewon Class. It is seen as helping to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and meet the needs of communication for younger generations.

The 2018 film directed by South Korean director Hong Sang-soo has been available to the mainland audiences on Tencent video and was rated 7.3/10 on Chinese media platform Douban.

The South Korean media saw the release as another signal of warming of the frozen cultural communication between the two countries since South Korea deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in 2016.

Besides the movie, there have been over 10 South Korean TV dramas appearing on other Chinese video platforms including Youku since the first half of 2022.

Chinese netizens actively reacted to the news that has become one of the hot topics on Sina Weibo on Tuesday. Many of them said that they are looking forward to seeing more high-quality works mutually exchanging between the two countries.

In December 2021, the first South Korean film screened in Chinese mainland theaters after six years, the 2020 comedy movie Oh! My Gran, won word of mouth referrals.

The release of the film has been seen as a good start for renewed cultural exchanges between China and South Korea by industry insiders.

Luo Luo, a Beijing-based film critic, told the Global Times that many South Korean TV series and movies have been hailed by Chinese audiences, while some Chinese works have also gained popularity in South Korea.

"The Beijing International Film Festival and the Shanghai International Film Festival also feature South Korean films, giving audiences a chance to see South Korean films on the big screen," Luo added.