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| Jessica Lee, Netflix's vice president for corporate communications in Asia, speaks during a press conference at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Netflix |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Netflix plans to invest more to produce more movies and other entertainment content here to capitalize on growing global demand for made-in-Korea films and dramas, the top U.S. streaming service provider said Thursday.
"Netflix is trying to become a channel to introduce Korean content to people around the world. Korean films and dramas have been received well not in only Asian countries but also all over the world," Kim Min-young, director of Korean original content at Netflix, said during a press conference at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul.
"Our mission is to let more people know about various kinds of media content of Korea including romance drama, comedy and entertainment shows."
Netflix, which has about 139 million subscribers in 190 countries, entered the Korean market in 2016. It gained attention for investing in director Bong Joon-ho's 2017 film "Okja" and launched its original variety show "Busted!" in 2018.
Netflix held the press conference a day ahead of launching its first original Korean drama "Kingdom."
The drama, which offers 27 different languages for subtitles and 12 dubbing options, is a six-episode zombie thriller set in the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom era. Its producer said the production cost of each episode was between 15 billion won ($13.3 million) and 20 billion won, which is the highest among non-U.S. original productions.
Nigel Baptiste, director of partner engineering at Netflix, said the firm is increasing its partnerships.
The drama is directed by Kim Seong-hun, known for directing 2016 film "Tunnel," and its script was written by star screenwriter Kim Eun-hee who earned her fame through the 2016 tvN drama "Signal." The cast includes actors Ju Ji-hoon, Ryu Seung-ryong and actress Bae Doona.
Netflix said it will continue to provide more original content. "We spent $8 billion last year to create original content," said Andy Law, director of product design.
In addition to "Kingdom," Netflix plans to launch more Korean content in 2019 including "Love Alarm," a romance drama based on cartoonist Chon Key-young's online comic of the same title "My First First Love" and the second season of entertainment show "Busted!"
Netflix announced it would increase its monthly subscription cost in the U.S. by up to 18 percent, but its Korean users won't experience the price hike.
"Netflix recently increased its price in the U.S. But in Korea, we don't have any plans to raise the subscription fee right now," said Jessica Lee, Netflix's vice president for corporate communications in Asia.
Korean users pay 9,500 won a month for the basic plan and 14,500 won for the premium plan which allows users to enjoy UHD quality content. Netflix is reportedly known to have about 300,000 subscribers here.
Lee addressed Korean subscribers' complaints that there is not much content to enjoy except Netflix's original shows, saying "Netflix has many popular licensed content such as Friends and we will keep increasing the number."
There have been growing calls here for video streaming service providers like Netflix and YouTube to make a network usage payment as they are one of the biggest sources of data consumption on the internet.
SK Broadband, a fixed-line operator here, said Monday it is doubling its network capacity because its customers who are using Netflix service have complained about streaming quality due to heavy and simultaneous usage of the service.
Against the backlash, Lee didn't give much details about it, saying, "It is very important to work with Korean ecosystem. I think we are not able to show details about it as the point of being here today is how we continue to invest in content."
