Netflix’s ‘Teach You a Lesson’ becomes surprise hit in China despite ban

A Netflix drama ‘Teach You a Lesson’, from South Korea has become a surprising hit in China, despite Netflix is not available in the country.

The drama is all about on school bullies which shows truly awful, the country’s government build a task force to take on such school violence.

The series premiered on June 5 2026, and as soon as the episode dropped, instantly become a global success, topping Netflix’s Global Top 10 Non-English TV chart after attracting 6.4 million views in just three days.

Among, the top 10 in 48 countries and territories, this drama ranked no 10.

Mainland China become the drama’s growing popularity which has drawn attention, as Netflix is banned there and South Korean entertainment has long faced unofficial restrictions.

Netflix does not officially operate in mainland China, where the service remains unavailable because of government restrictions on foreign streaming platforms and data regulations.

Since 2017 following tensions over South Korea’s deployment of the US THAAD missile defence system, all South Korean dramas, films, music and games have been unofficially restricted in China.

Despite these limitations, Chinese viewers have found ways to watch the drama through illegal streaming websites, unlicensed TV boxes, file-sharing platforms and encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram.

China’s largest film and TV review platform Douban, has created a review page for “Teach You a Lesson,” where about 144,000 users had submitted star ratings as of Thursday.

The drama’s success has once again highlighted concerns over online piracy. South Korean entertainment industry experts say the widespread illegal distribution of Korean content in China continues to be a major challenge and has renewed concerns about copyright protection.