Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Netflix to Invest $2.5 Bln in S. Korea for TV Series, Movies


Tue 25 Apr 2023 | 11:27 AM
Israa Farhan

On Tuesday, Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) said it will invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next 4 years to produce Korean TV series, movies, and unscripted shows, doubling its investment in the market since 2016.

The US streaming service made the announcement following a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Yoon arrived in Washington on Monday for a six-day state visit.

President Yoon welcomed the investment as a "major opportunity" for Netflix and the content industry in South Korea as the latter seeks to boost its cultural exports and influence.

South Korea's entertainment industry, known as the "Korean Wave" or Hallyu, has enjoyed a global boom in recent years.

In 2021, exports of content including music, video games, and movies reached a record $12.4 billion, according to government data, surpassing the volume of exports of household appliances and rechargeable batteries.

"We were able to make this decision because we have great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories," Sarandos said in a statement, citing the streaming platform's global hits produced by South Korean creators such as "Squid Game", "The Glory" and "Physical:100".

Pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun noted that South Korean content and Netflix have a mutually beneficial relationship.

Netflix had lower-than-expected forecasts last week as it sought to crack down on unauthorized password sharing in the second quarter to make improvements, delaying some of the financial benefits.