China's approval of South Korean game lifts hopes of better ties

Com2uSCorp

03/12/2020 12:55

SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - China has granted a license to a
South Korean mobile game, the  presidential office in Seoul said
on Thursday, raising hopes of an improvement in the two
countries' relations and pushing up shares in games and
entertainment firms.
    The presidential office said it was the first licence
awarded by China to a South Korean computer game in four years
-- though another Korean game, "Lucy: The Eternity She Wished
For," published by Modern Visual Arts Laboratory, had its
computer version approved by China in March and its mobile
version approved on Dec. 2. 
    China has restricted sales of South Korean games, dramas and
concerts as well as tours to South Korea since 2017, in a move
widely seen as retaliation for Seoul's decision to host a U.S.
missile defence system. 
    The presidential office gave few details beyond saying the
licence had been granted by China on Dec. 2, and did not say
what the games was called. 
    Local media reports said Com2us  078340.KQ  had received a
license from China for its popular mobile game, Summoners War.
    Com2us was not immediately available for comment. Its shares
jumped 6.2%, and stocks of other game and entertainment firms
rose sharply.
    China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, visited South Korea last week
after a two-day visit to Japan. 
    "The presidential office asked China to more actively
cooperate in invigorating collaboration in the culture and
content areas in a recent meeting between foreign ministers of
Korea and China on Nov. 26," the South Korean presidential
office said.
    “China also said it hopes that the two countries would
continue to communicate on that matter."
    The Modern Visual Arts Laboratory is an indie publisher,
which is not well known in Korea, so China may not have been
aware that it is a Korean game, said Wi Jong-hyun, president of
Korea Academic Society of Games, an industry research group.
    "This is just a beginning and I'm not optimistic yet," he
said. He said the number of Korean games approved this time was
small compared with other foreign games from the United States
and Japan. 
    Beijing expressed discontent over a U.S. missile defence
system installed in South Korea in 2017, which Washington and
Seoul say is designed to defend against North Korean missile
threats but China fears could undercut its security interests.

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Pei Li,Editing by Timothy
Heritage)
 ((hyunjoo.jin@thomsonreuters.com; 82-2-3704-5685; Reuters
Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))