Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said, “We were able to make this decision because of our confidence in the Korean content industry.”
Posted Date – Tue, 4/25/23 at 11:15pm
Washington: Building on the success of “The Squid Game” and “Glory,” streaming giant Netflix said it would invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce Korean dramas, movies and scripted shows.
The U.S. streaming service announced the plan after South Korean President Yoon Hee-yeol met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos after Yoon arrived in Washington for a state visit.
“We were able to make this decision because we have confidence in the Korean content industry that we will continue to create great stories,” Sarandos said after the meeting at Blair Palace.
“I have no doubt that our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and the Korean creative ecosystem,” he said, according to Yonhap news agency.
Sarandos said the amount is double the amount Netflix has invested in South Korea since it began investing there in 2016.
Citing Korean hits such as “Squid Game,” “Glory” and “Physics 100,” he also said that stories created by Korean creators “are now at the heart of the global cultural zeitgeist.”
Yoon welcomed the investment, saying he expects it to be a “huge opportunity” for Korean content businesses, creators and Netflix.
The investment, the largest ever in the country’s content industry, will help create 68,000 jobs, South Korea’s culture ministry said in a press release.
The ministry also said this will help strengthen the capabilities of domestic production companies and increase their chances of tapping into global markets.
A presidential official later told reporters in Washington that the investment decision had been three months in the making.
The president’s office first proposed the investment and Netflix conducted internal deliberations before finalizing the $2.5 billion investment, the official said.
Yoon and Sarandos “exchanged letters along the way, and the president and first lady had some level of prior interaction with top Netflix executives,” the official said.
Asked how first lady Kim Kun-hee got involved, the official said he first reported the developments to the president and briefed the first lady, who “has a lot of interest in the content industry.”
Earlier in the day, King attended an event at Blair House.
