LOS ANGELES: Netflix has announced plans to spend nearly $500 million in South Korea in 2021, and add more variety and diversity to their growing presence 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.
“The K-Wave, or Hallyu as we call it here in Korea, is a huge moment of national pride and we’re proud to be part of it. Great Korean stories are nothing new, in fact storytelling is deeply rooted in Korean culture.”
“But today we live in a world where ‘Parasite’ is an Academy Award Best Picture winner, BlackPink plays Coachella, and over 22M households tune into a horror TV series, ‘Sweet Home’. Audiences around the world are falling in love with Korean stories, artists, and culture,” Minyoung Kim, Netflix’s VP content for Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement.
The streaming giant revealed that it has introduced over 80 original Korean shows and movies to its members around the world, including Kim Eun-Hee’s hit zombie thriller series Kingdom, young-adult drama Extracurricular and recently released space drama Space Sweepers.
“That’s why we’re investing nearly $500 million in Korea in 2021 to add more variety and diversity to our growing slate,” Kim added.
Netflix has over 3.8 million subscribers in South Korea. The streamer said it will be working with top talent and filmmakers as well as emerging voices from across South Korea to create stories in every genre.
