LE SSERAFIM's Offline Fansign Event In China Leaves Korean Netizens Confused

LE SSERAFIM is gearing up for an upcoming fansign event in China, and Korean netizens can’t wrap their head around it.

On June 12, KST, LE SSERAFIM’s Weibo account made an announcement, stating that the group will be holding a fansign event in China as a part of their promotions for the Unforgiven album. According to the notice, around 80 lucky winners will win the opportunity to interact with the singers and get their autographs, while a total of 220 participants can win the chance to be in the audience during the event.

Lesserafim China OFFLINE fansign Event

LE SSERAFIM 1st Studio Album 《UNFORGIVEN》中国一直娱线下签名会公告💖
✨参与签名成员：LE SSERAFIM全体成员5名
✨招募时间：6月12日16:00 —6月26日12:00（中国时间）
✨中选者发表时间：6月28日12:00（中国时间）
✨中选名额:
-… pic.twitter.com/YqyWMVtLgE

— センちゃん³⁹💐 (@sakuchan_0812) June 12, 2023

The raffle will take place from June 12, 4 PM (China Standard Time or CST) to June 26, 12:00 PM CST. The results will be announced on June 28, 12 PM CST.

Additionally, the group has also been announced as a part of the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards lineup, which is slated to take place on July 8 and July 9 of this year. Other K-Pop acts like SEVENTEEN, Taeyang, PSY, and TREASURE are also expected to perform at the event.

LE SSERAFIM WILL PERFORM IN CHINA OMG ?!

LE SSERAFIM is included on the list of performers at the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards that will be held in China. pic.twitter.com/3zB5Sraxfu

— le sserafim pics (@sserapics) June 12, 2023

These announcements have been bewildering for fans, to say the least. Over the last few years, China has imposed an unofficial ban on Hallyu, making it almost impossible for any K-Pop idol to physically promote or perform in the country. After the leaders of China and South Korea met at the G-22 Summit in November last year, this ban was partially lifted.

Interestingly, it was a Tencent platform called Tencent Video that marked this partial reconciliation by including the South Korean movie Hotel by the River on its content list.

Even BTS member Suga recently mentioned during one of his livestreams that he is eager to perform for Chinese fans, but due to the current political situation, it is not a possibility.

🐱: i would love to perform in China, but i am unable to. in a kpop group there are a lot of different nationalities, and if there is a Chinese artist in the group they can go perform there, but the rest of the group is not able to. either way, i would love to perform there.

— Min Suga HQ⁷ (@MINSUGAHQ) June 11, 2023

But LE SSERAFIM, despite being from the same label, has somehow made it possible. Korean netizens are wondering how.

“China?? Are things resolved?”
“Whoa, what? Is that possible now?
“Wow, did the Korean ban got lifted?”
“Oh… Can they go, though? I thought it got canceled. Maybe not.”
“What? Is everything really resolved? That’s interesting.”

“Can they go? At this rate, can they go on tour also?”
“Whoa????”
“Wow. They signed something with a Chinese music site. That must’ve made this possible.”
“Will HYBE idols now break into China? I saw they’re also doing a performance.”