“Netflix is serving as a booster for K Content by providing K Content, South Korea’s key growth driv..

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“Netflix is serving as a booster for K Content by providing K Content, South Korea’s key growth driver, to viewers around the world.”

Korean content continues to be in its heyday with Netflix, an online video service (OTT) with 300 million subscribers around the world. According to a Netflix survey, Netflix members are playing a positive role in enhancing Korea’s national image to the extent that the percentage of non-members who want to visit Korea is nearly twice as high as that of non-members.

Kim Min-young, head of Netflix’s Asia-Pacific content division, who is leading Netflix’s discovery of Asian content, explained the synergy between Korean content and Netflix through a lecture at Sogang University on the 5th.

“The advantage of Korean content lies in its excellent storytelling,” said General Manager Kim. “Korean writers are excellent in melting timely messages into the story in a sophisticated way.” These stories are conveyed beyond the barriers of language and culture,” he said.

Kim is the first person to join Netflix as an Asian content officer in 2016, before Netflix’s Korean office was established. Most of the big Korean content, from Netflix’s first Korean original series, “Kingdom,” to Netflix’s biggest success, “Squid Game,” was discovered by General Manager Kim.

Introducing Netflix’s belief that “great stories can be made anywhere and loved anywhere,” General Manager Kim stressed, “The platform called Netflix is a role that allows these works in Korea to be carried around the world and loved around the world.”

Among them, “Squid Game,” which is set to be released in season 3 this month, is the most popular work in Netflix history. “I didn’t know that Squid Game would be such a big success,” General Manager Kim said. “It’s such a great drama, but it’s because it didn’t follow the formula of Hallyu dramas that have been successful.” They say that excellent stories, characters, and emotional lines are the secret to being able to work globally.

However, in order to become a work that takes off to the global stage, the first thing to do is to become a work that is loved in the country concerned, Kim stressed.

Then, what local content does Netflix produce and invest in as an original series. Director Kim said, “The most important thing in deciding on the production under the premise that the script and story are good is how many viewers this work is expected,” adding, “We think a lot about how much we can invest in depending on the audience size.”

“Sometimes you have to invest more than expected, and at that time, you have to demonstrate the ‘sense’, insights, and risk-taking that only humans have,” he explained.

The partnership between Netflix and Korea is also solidifying as Korean works are successful in succession. Netflix, which began a rare membership alliance cooperation with Naver in November last year, has been continuing further cooperation discussions with CEOs of both companies in the U.S.

In addition, Netflix has signed a business agreement with Jeju Island to support the production of content containing Jeju’s unique culture and natural environment as the series “Fully Believed” set in Jeju Island has gained huge popularity.

Since 2021, Kim has been in charge of content in Asia and the Pacific, excluding India, beyond Korea. He is also one of the 21 executives worldwide who lead Netflix.

Most of the Asian contents that viewers meet on Netflix, from content discovery in Thailand and Taiwan to Japanese animation supply and demand, go through Kim’s hands.

“There are no flight tickets to Asia,” General Manager Kim said. “The story centered on the creative environment of each country and the vision drawn by local creators is the most important.”

Meanwhile, with artificial intelligence (AI) technology sweeping all industries recently, the content production area is no exception. Regarding Netflix’s use of AI, General Manager Kim said, “We are conducting a lot of research to allow creators to use AI as a tool,” adding, “It will be at the level of supporting producers.”