Streaming giant Netflix has announced plans to spend nearly USD 500 million in South Korea in 2021, thus adding more variety and diversity to their growing slate across the globe.
South Korean shows, movies and K-pop have garnered global popularity in recent years, building audience base in countries such as the US and India, which have a robust entertainment industry of their own.
In the last five years — from 2015 to 2020 — Netflix invested $700 million to expand its slate of Korean content and established two purpose-built production facilities in the country. Besides acquiring rights to existing Korean content, Netflix has made more than 80 original shows and films locally, including the popular zombie thriller “Kingdom” from creator Kim Eun-hee.
“Over the last two years, we’ve seen the world falling in love with incredible Korean content, made in Korea and watched by the world on Netflix,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer at Netflix, said via video at the event.
“Our commitment towards Korea is strong. We will continue to invest and collaborate with Korean storytellers across a wealth of genres and formats,” he added.
On Thursday, Netflix also announced two new original films out of South Korea.
The California-based has revealed that it had 3.8 million paid subscribers in South Korea at the end of 2020.
Most of Netflix’s growth in Asia has so far come from Australia, Japan, India, and South Korea, according to the news report. With that, the company has identified South Korea as one of its keys to its success in the massive Asian market.
