{"id":2200008,"date":"2023-02-07T08:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T08:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2200008"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:09:48","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:09:48","slug":"why-2023-could-be-an-inflection-point-for-south-koreas-content-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/why-2023-could-be-an-inflection-point-for-south-koreas-content-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Why 2023 could be an inflection point for South Korea\u2019s content industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
Korean television and film content has exploded in recent years, and as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 is shaping up to be a complex year for Korean media as the industry undergoes major changes.<\/span><\/p>\n The decade started off with a bang when Bong Joon-ho’s \u201c<\/span>Parasite<\/span><\/a>\u201d won Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2020, and \u201c<\/span>Squid Game<\/span><\/a>\u201d became a global phenomenon in 2021, clocking up <\/span>1.65 billion hours<\/span><\/a> of viewing in 28 days after its release on Netflix. In 2022, diverse South Korean content resonated with audiences overseas, such as \u201c<\/span>All of Us Are Dead<\/span><\/a>\u201d and \u201c<\/span>The Extraordinary Attorney Woo<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Netflix has been at the vanguard of pushing Korean content on streaming platforms, and other services have been playing catchup, producing so much content that the market risks becoming oversaturated.<\/span><\/p>\n The rise of these streaming platforms has touched nearly everything in the industry, expanding the types of television being produced and the topics they address while drawing new players into an increasingly crowded market.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether this relentless streaming growth can continue and how the film industry will respond as it pursues a post-COVID recovery stand out as key questions for South Korea in the year ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n NETFLIX LEADS THE WAY<\/b><\/p>\n Netflix stated in its 2023 <\/span>Korean Content launch<\/span><\/a> that 60% of its subscribers consumed Korean content in 2022, justifying its <\/span>decision<\/span><\/a> to invest $700 million in such content between 2015 and 2020 and a further $500 million in 2021 alone.<\/span><\/p>\n Following the success of the historical zombie series \u201c<\/span>Kingdom<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which ushered in prestige miniseries content in Korea, the streamer\u2019s approach has been to lure subscribers both in and out of Korea. This was exemplified in 2021 with \u201c<\/span>D.P.<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which drew much attention in the South for its unflinching and brutal depiction of military service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n COVID-19 forced people to stay at home and thereby expedited changes in the industry, placing studios on the back foot. CJ ENM, for instance, started heavily <\/span>investing<\/span><\/a> in content for its streaming service Tving. By contrast, domestic broadcasters announced in April 2022 that they would <\/span>invest<\/span><\/a> some $2.3 billion (3 trillion won) in traditional TV series and films rather than focusing more on streaming.<\/span><\/p>\n Many other streaming services have entered the market for Korean content, including Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Waave, Coupang Play and Watcha, but competition is so hot that the amount of content being produced is fast becoming unsustainable. <\/span>Netflix alone has 34 Korean titles in its 2023 slate<\/span><\/a>, including Kim Tae-joon\u2019s film \u201c<\/span>Unlocked<\/span><\/a>,\u201d about an office worker who loses her smartphone, exposing her personal information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n EVOLVING INDUSTRY<\/b><\/p>\n One result of the Korean content explosion is that it has put the local entertainment industry in flux, eroding distinctions between film and miniseries and creating new opportunities for artists.<\/span><\/p>\n Many directors and actors are migrating over to streaming services, for instance. In 2023, South Korean filmmakers will direct over a dozen miniseries. This includes \u201c<\/span>Mask Girl<\/span><\/a>\u201d by Kim Young-soon and \u201c<\/span>Moving<\/span><\/a>\u201d by Park In-jae.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many of these are based on digital comic-book-like animated stories, called webtoons, which are now a significant content source for Korean dramas. Two of Korea\u2019s largest internet conglomerates and webtoon publishers,\u00a0 Kakao and Naver, are now involved in the content business. Kakao formed Kakao Entertainment in 2021 and recently <\/span>secured<\/span><\/a> close to $1 billion (1.2 trillion won) in investment, while Naver has increasingly <\/span>partnered<\/span><\/a> with CJ Group starting in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Securing intellectual property (IP) has also become a significant priority for many streaming services and production companies. It\u2019s why Astory, the company behind \u201cThe Extraordinary Attorney Woo,\u201d <\/span>rejected<\/span><\/a> Netflix\u2019s offer to produce the project, having learned from producing content with the streamer on \u201cKingdom\u201d that they lose rights to the IP in doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n The popularity of streaming services has contributed to the transformation of Korea\u2019s celebrity as well. Netflix\u2019s \u201c<\/span>All of Us Are Dead<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which has been popular with younger viewers and logged <\/span>474.2 million hours<\/span><\/a> viewed in its first four weeks, turned its young cast into global stars almost overnight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the past, young performers relied on roles in independent films before headlining a significant production, but in the Netflix era, streaming services and social networking sites, chiefly Instagram, have upended this system.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, streaming services have enabled artists to increasingly explore new themes and subjects.<\/span><\/p>\n The success of \u201c<\/span>The Extraordinary Attorney Woo<\/span><\/a>,\u201d starring Park Eun-bin, was telling. That the show\u2019s treatment of autism and social isolation resonated with so many people and illustrated how viewers have been searching for different shows with different kinds of characters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Netflix also sees potential in science fiction, a genre that has enjoyed only mixed commercial and critical success outside the Bong Joon-ho films \u201c<\/span>The Host<\/span><\/a>\u201d (2006) and \u201c<\/span>Snowpiercer<\/span><\/a>\u201d (2013).<\/span><\/p>\n