How Korea Became The World's Hottest Content Factory

FAST services may be struggling to get off the ground in Korea, due to the lack of cord-cutting, but the international appeal of Korean content is undeniable.

That was one of the key lessons from a series of presentations last week under the umbrella term “K-FAST” put on by Rasenberger Media, the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and KAIT, the Korean Association for ICT Promotion. 

According to research presented by Omdia’s Maria Rua Aguete, Korean-language content is now slightly more popular than Spanish-language content globally, taking the number two spot after English.

Netflix, always quick to pick up on trends, is leading the pack here, with far more Korean-language content than its competitors.

For now.

Other US-based streaming services like Warner and Disney are busy striking their own deals for what is colloquially known as “K-content.”

So it’s worth asking, why South Korea?

Why is a country whose population is just 52 million suddenly producing the hottest content globally across a range of categories, music and drama first among them? Especially given that Korea is somewhat isolated geographically.

A Tech Powerhouse

Two of the largest and most prominent consumer electronics companies are based in Korea: Samsung and LG. 

Their presence, along with government investment in infrastructure, means that South Korea punches above its weight in terms of tech investment and tech prowess.

In terms of the arts, that means that Korean productions can take advantage of state-of-the art technology to ensure a very polished and high-end vibe. Whether it’s a song or a TV show, the end result looks slick and professional.

Government Investment

As you might have gathered from the names behind the conference, the Korean government is actively involved in enabling and promoting the Korean content industry. They realize the value of having this sort of export and their support allows the industry to thrive in a way it would not if it was solely self-funded.

In practice, this means everything from providing significant funding for startups in creative industries to building new high-tech concert halls and production facilities to actively promoting Korean culture abroad as in the K-FAST Global event.

A deeper dive into two aspects of Korean content, K-Pop and K-Drama shows that their success is anything but accidental.

The K-Pop System

The K-Pop industry is built on a unique "idol" system that has several unique features:

Intensive Training: Aspiring idols are recruited by entertainment companies at a young age and undergo years of rigorous training.

Intense Fandoms: K-Pop stars cultivate a deep parasocial bond with their fans communicating with them through dedicated apps and live streams, creating a powerful sense of loyalty and belonging. K-Pop Stans are behind many of the original and more intense Feudal Media bubbles. It’s a fandom marked by a high degree of organization too, such as BTS’s “ARMY”, which allows the bands to use hashtags and other tactics to create a stir on social media platforms, thus further amplifying the band’s reach.

Use of English: As K-Pop groups have grown in popularity, they are increasingly recording songs in a mix of English and Korean, or, at the very least, inserting English phrases into their songs to make them more accessible to foreign audiences. 

Slick Production: K-Pop, as the name implies, is pop music pure and simple, and thus designed to appeal to a wide-ranging audience. That allows it to more easily gain followers globally. That said, a recent article in The Economist noted that K-Pop anthems were being adopted by protesting students in several non-Western countries, an indication that it’s not all rainbows and bubble gum.

K-Dramas

K-Dramas are Korean soap operas. While they have much in common with Mexican telenovelas and Turkish dizis, they differ in a few unique ways that have contributed to their global popularity.

One-Season Storytelling: Traditional K-dramas are just a single season long, usually somewhere around 16 to 20 episodes, so longer than a mini-series. That single season format allows for a unique style of story arc, with a clear beginning, middle and end and no end-of-season cliffhanger. The longer season allows for greater character development without leaning too heavily on typical soap opera tricks like amnesia and evil twins.

Traditional Values: Unlike their American and European counterparts, Korean dramas are relatively chaste, with the climax being a single kiss or even hand-holding. This, plus their emphasis on family and the slow build of the relationships, makes them popular in more traditional cultures like Latin America and the Middle East, the two non-Asian regions where K-Drama enjoys the greatest popularity.

Genre Blending: K-Dramas often blend elements from other dramas—comedy, thrillers, fantasy—so that they don’t all feel the same and can continue to surprise audiences while simultaneously attracting fans of those genres.

It’s All About the Soundtrack: Korean dramas are very well produced, with Hollywood-level production standards and then some. One unique element is that much attention is paid to the soundtrack of the show, with K-Pop stars often contributing songs that can become international hits, which further serves to boost awareness of the show.

K-FAST

While the hottest new K-Dramas are getting snatched up by Netflix and other SVOD services, there are numerous other genres of Korean TV shows that are available for FAST services. 

Korean cooking shows, for instance, are very different than Western shows—they are rarely competitions, but rather, will do things like sending celebrities to a foreign country to open a Korean restaurant (Youn’s Kitchen) or to a rural area to grow, plan and cook the meals (Three Meals A Day.)

The climax of these shows is not a beautifully plated dish that meets Gordon Ramsay’s approval, but rather, the act of the entire cast sitting down together to slowly enjoy a meal.

It’s a very different vibe, one that is appealing to audiences in the West as well as Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

The Whole K-Content Library Is Vast

In addition to cooking shows, Korean FAST channels will include older K-dramas (“hallyu”), Korean movies, Korean variety shows (which often feature popular K-Pop stars), live K-Pop concerts and reality competitions.

It is this eclectic well-produced and family-friendly mix that is making Korean content a streaming star. 

While American content still dominates, audiences looking for something different, especially on FAST, are seeking out Korean shows—particularly, as noted previously, in areas like Latin America and the Middle East, where telenovelas and dizis have long been popular.

AI-Fueled Dubbing Helps Too

No discussion of K-Content would be complete without a nod to the advances in dubbing thanks to AI. Studios are now able to dub their shows in a variety of languages, using authentic voices and without the need for, say, a Korean-to-Slovakian translator. AI-based tools can even make it seem as if the characters are speaking the language the show has been dubbed into, changing their mouth and head movements to adapt.

The Future Is Global

Other countries have, no doubt, been watching the Korean success story and figuring out how to boost and promote their own content industries. That’s why we are likely to see far more international content appearing on streaming services, both subscription and (especially) FAST as more audiences move to streaming and distributors look for unique content to draw them in.