The company’s future investment plans were announced during a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in Washington, THR reports.
About $2.5 billion over the next four years will be directed to the production of Korean series, films and shows. The investment will double Netflix’s spending in Korea since the local streaming launch in 2016, according to the company.
“We are confident that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories. I have no doubt that our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and the Korean creative ecosystem,” said Sarandos.
In recent years, South Korean film and music have gained worldwide popularity thanks to the phenomenal success of K-pop artists (BTS and Blackpink) and films such as the Oscar-winning Parasite. Netflix took up Korean content in 2016, when it invested $50 million in the sci-fi action drama “Okja” by Korean director Bong Joon-ho.
Since then, the streaming service has produced a lot of internationally acclaimed Korean content, including Sweet Home, The Squid Game, Hell’s Call, the reality show 100 Athletes, and the feature film Kill Pok-sun. The Squid Game still holds the record as the most watched show in Netflix history, with viewers spending 1.65 billion hours watching the first season, which aired in 2021.
According to Netflix, in 2022, approximately 6 out of 10 viewers watched a South Korean-produced show on the site. At the same time, the streaming customer base has increased in Asia, where the growth of the premium video sector is still in full swing.
The streamer released 29 exclusive Korean dramas last year, with 6 of them among the top 10 titles in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, according to regional consultancy MPA. Overall, Korean dramas accounted for 28% of the total viewers in the region, American series – 25%, American films – 12%, Japanese anime – 10%.
However, Netflix is hardly alone in its optimism about the Korean content sector. Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, as well as Korea’s domestic streaming services, including operators Tving and Wavve, spend heavily on acquiring and producing original Korean content. Content exports from the country, including music, movies and video games, reached a record $12.4 billion in 2021, according to the latest government data.
