Netflix will invest $2.5 billion in South Korean content over the next four years, the streaming giant’s chief executive Ted Sarandos said after a meeting in Washington with South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.
“Netflix is ??delighted to confirm that we will invest $2.5 billion in Korea, including the creation of Korean series, movies and non-scripted content over the next four years,” Sarandos said in a statement obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
“This investment plan is twice the total amount Netflix has invested in the Korean market since we started our service in Korea in 2016,” he added.
South Korea has become a global cultural powerhouse in recent years, thanks in part to the success of the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite” or the Netflix series “The Squid Game.”
Proof of this popularity is that around 60% of Netflix users watched at least one production from this country on the platform in 2022, according to company data.
Sarando said the platform has “great confidence” that the country’s creative industry will continue to produce great stories, citing the recent successes of the series “La gloria” or the reality show “Physical ability: 100” as examples.
Netflix, which spent more than 1 trillion won ($750 million) developing Korean content between 2015 and 2021, had already advanced that it intended to expand its production in the country, but without giving details on the investment plan.
South Korean President Yoon, who arrived in Washington on Monday for a six-day state visit, held his “very significant” meeting with Sarandos, according to a statement sent by his office to AFP.
He also assured that the investment “will be a great opportunity for the Korean content industry, for creators and for Netflix.” “We sincerely applaud Netflix’s exceptional investment decision,” she said.
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