On September 17, Netflix premiered Squid Game (The Squid Game), a series that not only escalated to become on the most popular of the platformbut also woke up a global interest for learning Korean language. Broadly speaking, the plot poses a survival competition that brutally confronts characters immersed in various social problems, which they seek to solve through the large amount of money offered as a prize.
Let’s review some recent data: between 2015 and 2020, Netflix made an investment of 700 million dollars covering both the acquisition of Korean licenses and the making of original films and series. What’s more, partnered with entertainment conglomerate CJ Entertainment for a period of three years. The introduction of this article, then, does not seek to add to the many and varied reviews of the show that have been on everyone’s lips. Instead, it gives us a foothold to delve into what lies behind this particular success: the evolution of the South Korean television industry.
Television, history and politics
Although Korean television was born in 1956, it would be in 1961 when it began to operate Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), the first large-scale station. They followed Tonyang Broadcasting Company (TBC) in 1964 and Munwha Broadcasting Company (MBC) in 1969. This period of early television development was marked by the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee and its strict control and censorship of content.
In the 1980s, under the authoritarian rule of General Chun Doo-hwan, color television would enter. In this period the centralization intensified: the national media concentrated under the KBS signal. Little by little, citizens began to express their dissatisfaction with the news bulletins that were always favorable to the military government and they organized to boycott the payment of subscriptions for the service. With the advent of democratic elections in 1987, the law on broadcasting that was in force until then, guaranteeing, among other things, greater freedom of programming. The broadcast of the Seoul Olympics in 1988 was the inauguration of these new policies and technologies.
The decade of the ’90s was characterized by the deregulation of the media and led to the creation of a new law for the sector, the educational channel Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) in 1990 and the commercial Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) in 1991, and in the expansion of the cable television network. The channels that were previously at the service and under the control of the different governments, now passed with their contents to compete for the audience.
Hunting for content
In the era of reconstruction and industrialization, the population made hard efforts in pursuit of the economic growth of the country. In this context of political oppression and long working hours, melodramatic soap operas provided family entertainment, making the genre one of the most explored and favorite.
“Between 2015 and 2020, Netflix made an investment of 700 million dollars covering both the acquisition of Korean licenses and the making of original films and series »
In 1992, the first Korean soap operas were sold to Turkey and Hong Kong, although the Asian crisis of 1997 was one of the reasons that facilitated their entry into the markets of the region, since they then cost between a quarter and a tenth less than fictions. from neighboring countries. In fact, that same year, the broadcast of the Korean novel What is Love in China laid the foundations for the movement that would soon become known as hallyu (Hello Korean).
The decade of the 2000 brought with it a television whose target was no longer exclusively the local public, but worldwide. While KBS and MBC began a process of internal reorganization (including changes in their marketing departments for a better relationship with the international market), the melodrama Winter Sonata the Japanese public fell in love.
The image of South Korea, renewed?
Little by little, the perception of Korea as a country plagued by wars and famine was being replaced by a fresh and avant-garde image thanks to fictions but also supported by a strong and renewed star-system. Thousands of viewers (first Asian, then global) began to travel to the country to visit the film sets of their favorite novels, in turn promoting the tourism sector.
«Although Korean television was born in 1956, it would be in 1961 when it began to operate Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), the first large-scale station »
However, not everything is rosy. There are some controversial issues in the industry related to nationalism, which periodically attract attention. Countries in the region have expressed complaints about stories of the Korean historical genre that do not coincide with their own versions of events. In Japan there were demonstrations against what was considered an exacerbated broadcast of Korean content by local channels. And recently, a telenovela in full broadcast was canceled due to accusations of cultural and historical distortion favorable to China.
The phenomenon of the Asian «BL» series
Despite everything, production has grown and diversified to the point of being appreciated and required, now also by foreign investors. In addition to the usual melodramas, today we have police, fantasy, history and of course, the very successful Squid Game, which is just one piece in a larger “game” called South Korean television.
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