The case of New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts is a litmus test for South Korea in its efforts to move closer to the U.S. and away from China.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was elected in 2022 on a platform that promised to bring the nation closer to the United States and take a stronger stance against Beijing.
That commitment from Mr. Yoon is now being put to the test as an American performing arts company has been told that it can’t perform in South Korea as a result of influence from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The idea of cultural exchange between the United States and South Korea is something that top officials, including Mr. Yoon, have personally promoted to strengthen ties between the two nations.
During a state dinner at the White House in April, Mr. Yoon even sang the American classic “American Pie” and said that the two countries’ relationship is “an alliance of values.”
In the case of the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts, however, the CCP has been able to continue its nearly two-decade-long influence campaign in South Korea.
Local Shen Yun organizers say that Seoul’s two major theaters have so far rejected the group’s bid to perform as a result of pressure from the CCP.
Internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times reveal that the Chinese Embassy in South Korea has for years waged an intimidation campaign aimed at both theaters as well as the South Korean government, threatening economic and political repercussions if the country allows Shen Yun to perform there.
Shen Yun, which presents authentic Chinese culture through dance and music as it existed before communist rule, performs in more than 20 countries across five continents every year.
The CCP views Shen Yun “as very dangerous” to its own ideology because of the performing arts company’s efforts to revive and depict traditional Chinese culture, said Trevor Loudon, an expert on communist infiltration.
The Chinese communists “want only one way of looking at China, that is the communist party way,” Mr. Loudon told The Epoch Times. “They want a new world run by the communist party, and they need to destroy culture and disconnect people from their past, from their roots.”
By Eva Fu
