[Market Focus] Pan Entertainment Soars as "When Life Gives You Tangerines" Receives Rave Reviews in China... Positive Signal for Korean Wave Ban Easing

The stock price of Pan Entertainment, the production company behind "When Life Gives You Tangerines," is on the rise. Reports of growing interest in the Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines" in China appear to be influencing the stock's performance. Expectations for box office success following the release of the final act (episodes 13 to 16) are also contributing to the upward trend.

As of 9:20 a.m. on March 28, Pan Entertainment was trading at 3,095 won, up 11.93% from the previous day.

Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party's nationalist-leaning official newspaper, has unusually lavished praise on the Korean drama "When Life Gives You Tangerines." This has led to speculation that it could be a positive signal hinting at the easing of the Korean Wave ban.

In an article titled "A New Hit in Korean Historical Dramas," Global Times reported, "The Korean drama 'When Life Gives You Tangerines,' starring IU and Park Bogum, has received high acclaim both domestically and internationally since its release on Netflix on March 7."

"When Life Gives You Tangerines" received a rating of 9.4 on Douban, a Chinese review platform, making it the highest-rated Korean drama on the site in recent years.

It is considered highly unusual for Global Times, which has previously led efforts to downplay K-pop and other aspects of Korean pop culture, to offer such high praise for a Korean drama.

According to the official Netflix website "Netflix Top 10," the first act (episodes 1 to 4) of "When Life Gives You Tangerines," released on March 7, debuted at fourth place in the global non-English series category. The second act (episodes 5 to 8) climbed to second place, and the third act (episodes 9 to 12) reached the top spot.