CCTV to Re-broadcast 'Crossing the Yalu River' Starting Tomorrow
40-Episode Drama Revealing the 6·25 'Aid to Korea'
China's state-run China Central Television (CCTV) has scheduled a drama about China's participation in the Korean War, set to air starting tomorrow. This appears to be a response to President Yoon Suk-yeol's mention of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, where U.S. and UN forces fought Chinese troops during the Korean War, in his speech to the U.S. Congress on the 27th (local time).
According to the schedule of CCTV's military channel (CCTV-7) on the afternoon of the 29th, the channel will broadcast episodes 1 and 2 (reruns) of the 40-episode drama "Crossing the Yalu River" starting at 9:54 PM on the 30th (local time).
The online edition of the state-run Global Times, Huanqiu, also announced that "CCTV's military channel will air the drama daily at the same time going forward." It added, "This drama is based on extensive historical materials and comprehensively depicts the historical scenes of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (Kangmei Yuanzhao), showing vivid reenactments of several moving battles including the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, seriously revealing the great spirit of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea." Furthermore, it stated, "The fact that the drama eloquently conveys throughout its episodes that 'an invader with many weapons but little morale is bound to be defeated.'"
"Crossing the Yalu River" is a so-called "patriotic" drama produced by CCTV and first aired in December 2020. The drama covers former state chairman Mao Zedong's (1893?1976) decision to participate in the Korean War, the crossing of the Yalu River, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, and other individual battles. Since its original broadcast, CCTV has rerun the drama multiple times. In 2021, it was also made into a film of the same name.
Originally, CCTV's military channel had announced that it would air episodes 1 and 2 of the 2019 drama "The Great Turnaround" at the same time on the 30th, but on the afternoon of the 29th, a day before the broadcast, it changed the schedule to "Crossing the Yalu River."
Earlier, on the 27th (local time), President Yoon mentioned the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in his speech to the U.S. Congress. He said, "The U.S. Marine 1st Division achieved a miraculous breakthrough against 120,000 Chinese troops' encirclement tactics during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir," adding, "In that battle alone, 4,500 U.S. soldiers died, and about 37,000 U.S. soldiers died in the Korean War."
The next day, on the 28th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, when asked by a Chinese media reporter for comments on President Yoon's mention of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during his speech, stated, "I want to emphasize that the great victory of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea holds significant and profound meaning for China and the world." He also made a provocative remark targeting the U.S., saying, "It is a steel-hard fact that any country or military that stands against the flow of historical development, relying on power to bully the weak, going against the tide of the times, and expanding aggression will inevitably have its head broken and bleed."
China officially refers to its participation in the Korean War from October 1950, when it entered the war, until the armistice agreement was signed in July 1953, as the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea," defining the Korean War as a war against U.S. imperialist aggression.
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