[Special Stock] Expectations for Hanhanryeong Lift... DearU Rises Over 6%

With expectations of the lifting of the Hanhanryeong, the stock price of DearU, a global fan communication platform company, is showing strong performance.

As of 9:17 a.m. on the 20th, DearU was trading at 46,750 won, up 3,000 won (6.86%) from the previous trading day.

The day before, the Chinese government announced that it would lift regulations related to the Hanhanryeong (ban on Korean Wave content) in May. This comes about eight years after the Hanhanryeong was imposed as retaliation against the deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) by the Korean government in 2017.

On the same day, Heo Seon-jae, a researcher at SK Securities, said, "DearU's main service, 'Bubble,' is a monthly subscription-based private messaging platform where subscribers can interact bidirectionally with various artists such as K-pop stars, actors, and sports stars," adding, "More than 80% of the artists on the platform are K-pop artists, and the subscriber distribution by region is 35% China, 28% Korea, 14% Japan, and 23% U.S. and others."

He continued, "An overall recovery in the entertainment industry and investment sentiment is expected, and significant performance growth will begin through the partnership with Tencent Music Entertainment Group, China's largest music platform company, which was signed in the fourth quarter of last year," adding, "The China service is expected to start as early as next month. The growth landscape could be completely changed by a well-developed China business alone."