Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
CEOs of Naver, Netflix meet in search of future opportunities
Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, left, poses with Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters during their meeting at Netflix's office in Los Angeles, Tuesday. Courtesy of Naver
By Nam Hyun-woo
CEOs of Korean internet service firm Naver and global streaming giant Netflix met in the U.S. in search of opportunities for expansion and cooperation, the former said Thursday.
Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters met at Netflix’s office in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Executives from both companies reviewed the progress of their ongoing membership partnership in Korea and discussed potential areas for further collaboration.
Choi shared Naver’s experience of forming membership ecosystems with various partner companies in and outside of Korea, while Netflix executives also expressed their opinion on the future of the membership-based service industry.
Naver and Netflix announced their partnership in September last year, and Naver has been offering Netflix’s ad-supported standard plan as part of its Naver Plus membership at no additional cost since November.
Naver said the partnership led to a 1.5 times increase in new sign-ups for Naver Plus, which is a paid subscription service that allows various benefits. The partnership also helped Netflix, with monthly active users in Korea sharply bouncing back to reach 14.09 million in March, according to the industry tracker IGAWorks.
Reportedly, Netflix has also noted that its user base in Korea has become more diverse after the partnership. Naver said the partnership’s success stems from effectively combining each firm’s strengths in platform capabilities and content offerings.
Kim Jun-koo, CEO of Naver’s web comic subsidiary Webtoon Entertainment, also attended the meeting to share the company’s content business experiences. A number of Netflix hit series such as “All of Us Are Dead,” “Sweet Home” and “Golden Hour: Trauma Center” are based on comics published on Naver Webtoon.
Initially, there has been speculation that Netflix might integrate Naver Webtoon’s content on its platform. The company said the meeting marks the first of its kind between executives and that further discussions on expanded cooperation will be conducted through various channels.
On the same day, Naver CEO Choi also joined a closed-door roundtable with Netflix employees, alongside Maria Ferreras, Netflix’s global head of partnerships. During the session, Choi emphasized the shared philosophy of user-centric innovation, highlighting the potential for broader synergies.