On the Chinese content review site Douban, a review page for 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' has been created, and there are currently about 30,000 reviews posted.
Currently, Netflix is not officially available in China, making the viewing of 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' there an act of illegal streaming.
Professor Seo Kyung-duk from Sungshin Women's University commented, "This was also the case when 'Squid Game' Season 2 was released. In China, illegal streaming has become a common practice." He further criticized, "It's astonishing that they feel no shame about such actions."
In the past, China has faced significant controversy for freely using the likenesses of Hallyu stars from Korean content and creating counterfeit products for profit.
Starring IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, and Park Hae-jun, 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' reached the No. 2 spot in the Netflix Global Top 10 Series (Non-English) category in its second week of release. It has also made it to the Top 10 list in 41 countries, including South Korea, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Turkey, the Philippines, and Vietnam, gaining significant popularity both domestically and internationally.
Professor Seo Kyung-duk urged, "Instead of making baseless claims that 'Korea has stolen Chinese culture,' Chinese people should first learn to respect the content of other countries."
[Photos: Netflix 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' poster (above), screenshot of 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' review page on Chinese content review site Douban]
Reporter Kang Sun-ae sakang@sbs.co.kr
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)