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The Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines, starring South Korean actors IU and Park Bo-gum, has garnered significant international attention since its premiere on March 7, 2025. Media outlet Kbizoom reported on March 20, 2025, that the series is illegally streamed on the Chinese content review platform Douban (豆瓣).
The platform is a dedicated review page where Chinese netizens reportedly created dedicated pages to stream When Life Gives You Tangerines. Reports suggest that nearly 30,000 reviews are posted on Douban. Meanwhile, Netflix is not officially available in China, which further raised concerns about unauthorized streaming of the series.
Sungshin Women's University's professor Seo Kyung-duk told Kbizoom that the situation has become a "norm" in China, and netizens "feel no shame about it."
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“This happened when ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 was released as well. In China, illegal streaming has practically become the norm. What’s even more shocking is that they feel no shame about it.”
He continued:
“Instead of making absurd claims that Korea is stealing Chinese culture, they should first learn to respect the content of other countries.”
China's history of unauthorized use of K-content explored amidst When Life Gives You Tangerines' illegal streaming
When Life Gives You Tangerines is a romance slice-of-life drama focused on Ae-sun and Gwan-sik, who face societal and internal trials. Their love persists throughout the cultural shifts experienced on Jeju Island during the 1950s.
The show represents Jeju's cultural heritage as it includes the island's expressions and customs around its traditions while preserving the viewer's experience of the surrounding culture.
The ongoing series has become a success on a global scale. Chosun Biz reported that When Life Gives You Tangerines ranked among the Top 10 hit series in Brazil, South Korea, Chile, Turkey, Mexico, the Philippines, and Vietnam, among others.
China had been dragged into controversies surrounding the unauthorized use of Korean content in the past. The Hallyu Wave, or Korean Wave, led to the popularity of Korean culture, such as K-drama and K-pop, across the world, particularly in China. However, the popularity was exploited in the form of illegal streaming and selling counterfeit Korean merchandise.
The mass production of counterfeit K-pop merchandise has been a persistent issue. In 2022, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced plans to strengthen regulations against counterfeit K-pop merchandise sold online, acknowledging the growing problem of fake goods capitalizing on the popularity of groups like BTS and BLACKPINK.
A significant portion of counterfeit goods in South Korea originates from China. Data from the Korea Customs Service indicated that nearly 85% of counterfeit goods seized in the first half of 2024 were from China, amounting to approximately 93.4 billion won (around $63.6 million).
When Life Gives You Tangerines will release episodes 9 to 12 on March 21 and episodes 13 to 16 on March 28, 2025.
