Kim Min-young, Head of Korea, Southeast Asia, and Australia Content, "Korea is the Driving Force of the Asian Market"
Investing 550 Billion Won in Content This Year... Focusing on Subtitles and Dubbing to Lower Entry Barriers
Netflix never viewed Korea merely as a ‘media market’ to directly recruit subscribers from the start. They aimed to produce original content. They judged Korea to be an ideal foothold for expansion into China and Southeast Asia. To win over creators and producers, they boldly invested in their first project. They spent a whopping 57 billion won on director Bong Joon-ho’s Okja. At the time, this was equivalent to 57 months of revenue generated in Korea.
Okja attracted only 321,550 viewers in theaters. This was because it was released mainly in single-screen and art theaters. Multiplex cinemas strongly opposed simultaneous releases with online streaming. Amid the commotion, Netflix enjoyed significant promotional effects in Korea. Riding this momentum, they began to vigorously pursue original content and exclusive rights acquisition.
Kim Min-young, Head of Content for Netflix Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, announced at the Netflix content roadshow ‘See What’s Next Korea 2021’ on the 25th, "We plan to invest about 550 billion won in Korean content this year." This amount accounts for over 70% of the total 770 billion won invested over the past four years. Kim explained, "This is a measure to share the experience of Korean content, grow alongside creators, and create a ripple effect."
Ted Sarandos, Netflix CEO and Chief Content Officer, also stated, "Our belief in Korean content is steadfast," adding, "Over the past two years, the world has been enthusiastic about the amazing works produced in Korea." He emphasized, "We aim to foster co-growth with the creative ecosystem."
Among the 13 newly introduced titles, nine are dramas. These include Kingdom: Ashin of the North starring Jun Ji-hyun, The Silent Sea starring Gong Yoo and Bae Doona, Squid Game starring Lee Jung-jae and Park Hae-soo, Hellbound starring Yoo Ah-in and Park Jung-min, Love Alarm Season 2 starring Kim So-hyun, Jung Ga-ram, and Song Kang, Move to Heaven: I Am a Trauma Cleaner starring Lee Je-hoon, D.P. starring Jung Hae-in, My Name starring Han So-hee, and All of Us Are Dead starring Park Ji-hoo.
They will also release director Park Hoon-jung’s film Night in Paradise, the sitcom I Wish the Earth Would End Tomorrow, Baek Jong-won’s reality show Baek Spirit, and Lee Soo-geun’s stand-up comedy Lee Soo-geun’s Nunchi Coach. Additionally, they are producing director Jung Byung-gil’s film Carter and director Park Hyun-jin’s film Moral Sense.
Kim sees these works as the driving force behind Netflix’s dominance in the Asian market. He said, "Korean content holds a very important position in the Asian market," and expressed confidence that "effective launches will provide fresh viewing experiences even in countries where Netflix is already established." He added, "We will focus on lowering entry barriers by paying more attention to subtitles and dubbing."
The expanded scale of content investment also reflects a serious sense of crisis. Strong competitors like Disney+, Apple, and HBO Max are eyeing the Asian market. Kim said, "It is a good phenomenon for the entire industry to grow together," adding, "We just need to strive to become an attractive platform."
However, Netflix recently decided to invest about 20 trillion won in content. Half of this will go toward producing original content. An industry insider explained, "This is because it has become difficult to purchase content from competitors who own powerful content production studios." In fact, the number of new Netflix titles has decreased by about 2,000 compared to ten years ago. Netflix is attempting to overcome the challenging situation of no longer being able to maintain a monopoly by leveraging Korean content.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
