WrapPRO

The whole world was watching “Squid Game” in the first three days after its Season 3 premiere. The dystopian thriller from director Hwang Dong-hyuk debuted at No. 1 in all 93 countries where Netflix ranks its viewership — a first for the streamer. The final season also secured 60.1 million views globally in its first three days — another first.

And its viewership is only expected to grow. The first season is still the most-watched title of all time, with 265.2 million views in its first 90 days. As for Season 2, that ranks as the third most-watched series ever behind “Wednesday” with 192.6 million views.

This isn’t a fluke or even a “Squid Game”-specific phenomenon. In 2023, the streamer pledged to spend $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years. As Netflix has increased its investment in Korean shows and movies, viewers have embraced this subgenre. A study commissioned by Netflix from the independent research firm 2CV found that 60% of Netflix’s 280 million users have viewed Korean content, with more than two-thirds of American subscribers having watched K-content for more than two years.

“Korean content is the most watched non-English shows on Netflix, and that’s actually more than Spanish-language content,” Don Kang, vice president of Korean content at Netflix, told TheWrap. That’s notable considering Spanish is the fourth most-spoken language in the world, According to ethnologist. Korean doesn’t even make the top 20. “It just speaks to the level of travelability and the expansion the Korean content has enjoyed through Netflix.”

At a time when television and film is more globalized than ever, securing big, buzzy markets has become vital. Prime Video is available in over 200 countries and territories, while Netflix reaches closer to 190 countries and HBO Max stands at 65. Netflix has emerged as one of the dominant streaming players because of its commitment to localization rather than trying to force a global hit. The world may be tuning in to watch Korean content, but these shows come from local creators who are simply trying to tell Korean stories. It’s a strategy that CCO Bela Bajaria has emphasized time and time again. And with Netflix’s K-content, you can see it working.

Diesel Labs, a content intelligence company that tracks conversations on social media to assess people’s opinions, found similar levels of excitement. During the first three weeks leading up to their launches, both “Sirens” and “Ginny & Georgia” Season 3 — two series that are considered to be mid-sized English-language hits — saw 1.6 million engagements online. The Korean romance “When Life Gives You Tangerines” saw 2.7 million engagements. “Squid Game” clocked in at a staggering 16.5 million engagements.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s a short fad,” Anjali Midha, president and CEO of Diesel Labs, told TheWrap.

Midha pointed to the recently released “KPop Demon Hunters,” a Sony English-language animated movie that has reached the streamer’s Top 10 list in all 93 countries and scored 33.4 million views in its first two weeks.

“Korean culture has become familiar enough for the U.S. to start investing in Korean stylistic content,” Midha said. “That suggests that this is more like an anime. It’s a genre that we’re going to see more of over time.”

In the second half of 2024, almost a third of all viewing on Netflix came from non-English shows and films. A study from the technology research and advisory group Omdia broke down language viewership trends even further. In the first half of 2024, Korean shows accounted for 8.71% of all non-English language viewership on Netflix, while Spanish-language content followed closely behind at 7.11%. Spanish-language viewing was also more than double that of French, German and Portuguese viewing combined.

The unexpected success of “Squid Game” in 2021 is a major reason why Korean content has taken off. But K-content’s global rise can also be attributed to Netflix’s continued willingness to invest in newer Korean talents, a country that has made a serious effort to appeal to U.S. media and a culture that prefers morally clear narratives that can be appealing to a broad audience. “Squid Game” may be the biggest example, but the era of K-content is only the beginning.

K-content benefits from the Netflix effect

The Korean Wave first took off in the 1990s when shows like “What Is Love” and “Star in My Heart” became popular in China. The phenomenon eventually began to emerge in Japan in the early 2000s, leading to an increase in Korean tourism, and had a niche following in the U.S. But it wasn’t until Netflix entered the playing field and “Parasite” won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2020 that the K-content TV show game changed.

“K-dramas have existed for a long time, since the ‘60s, but it was only with the entrance of Netflix where the production values really became higher,” Steve Choe, a scholar of Korean media, told TheWrap. Since Netflix’s increased investment in K-content, Choe has noticed that more of his students are coming from places like the Middle East, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Netflix’s first original Korean series set the stage for its investments to come. Based on the webtoon series “The Kingdom of the Gods,” 2019’s “Kingdom” was an ambitious thriller that combined a period drama set in the 17th century with zombie horror.

“No other TV stations or streaming services back then in Korea would commission something like that,” Kang said. “So we’ve always been trying to be a place where you can tell stories that no one else will tell at a scale that has not been done before.”

“Netflix offers opportunities for young filmmakers and writers who are not yet established,” Areum Jeong, assistant professor of Korean studies at Arizona State University, told TheWrap. “If you look at Korean broadcasting stations, they tend to go with big-name directors and big-name writers. They don’t want to take a chance with young writers because they might flop, so they work with the same screenwriter again and again.”

When it comes to which projects to invest in, Kang always prioritizes local first: teams and creators from South Korea who are making Korean stories for Korean audiences. “The main thing is really finding that unique voice in your own country or region,” Kang said.

Why audiences can’t get enough

At first glance, it may not seem like there’s a common thread between a show about murderous children’s games like “Squid Game” and a cross-border romance like “Crash Landing on You.” But for Choe, it’s the easy morality of these universes that’s appealing and even comforting to audiences. The sources of distress are often broad and relatable whether they be the weight of a patriarchal system or the evils of capitalism.

“They’re therapeutic for individuals around the globe who suffer because of circumstances beyond their control,” Choe said.

Another reason for their popularity has to do with production quality. Using its AI model that’s been trained on social media responses, Diesel Labs found that people praise the lighting, costuming, twists and character development of K-content. That’s notable considering one of the big complaints about non-American shows is often that they look or feel cheap.

Midha also noted that South Korea has made a concerted effort over the past decade to expose more of its culture, music and content to the rest of the world. “It’s remarkable to see the success that those efforts have had. I don’t know that any other country has been so specific about the desire to export content in that way,” she said.

Choe echoed her analysis, noting that there’s long been a close relationship between Korean content and its government. When Korean ambassadors travel to the U.S. or Europe, it’s not unusual for them to meet with the heads of streaming platforms in those countries.

K-content’s future on Netflix

Netflix has no plans to dampen its love affair with South Korea.

The streamer is preparing to launch “Physical: Asia,” a spinoff of the beloved unscripted competition series “Physical: 100,” as well as Season 2 of “Culinary Class Wars” and the makeover show “Better Late Than Single.” On the scripted TV front, “Genie, Make a Wish,” a new romantic comedy from “The Glory” creator Kim Eun-sook, is on the horizon alongside new dramas like “The Price of Confession,” “Trigger,” “As You Stood By” and “You And Everything Else,” as well as comedies like “Aema” and “Can This Love Be Translated?” Netflix is even investing more in Korean movies with “Wall To Wall,” “Mantis,” Byun Sung-hyun’s “Good News,” “Great Flood” and the latest film from “Burning” director Lee Chang-dong.

“If you look at the volume of shows that we’ve been producing, it has steadily increased,” Kang said.

Overall, Netflix’s investment in K-content has proven to be positive for the country. The 2CV study found that 67% of Netflix users say they feel positively about South Korea, compared to 37% of non-Netflix users, with an equal amount of Netflix users expressing interest in visiting the country vs. 41% of non-Netflix users.

But some are hesitant about South Korea’s increased reliance on the streamer, especially during a time when creating K-content is becoming more expensive. A big source of concern has to do with the lack of residuals. “Squid Game” creator Hwang has become the unofficial poster child for this worry since he’s spoken publicly in the past about how his Season 1 contract didn’t contain any clauses for performance-related bonuses. He later assured TheWrap he was paid more for Seasons 2 and 3. “It got better, for sure. That’s why I did it,” Hwang said.

Though Jeong sees Netflix’s investment in South Korea as a “profitable partnership,” she also noted that “discussions are ongoing regarding IP rights and whether Korean creatives are being compensated fairly.”

“We try to be fair, of course. It’s only right for us to treat the creators fairly if they have such massive shows,” Kang said. “We try to match what the industry norm is. We pay them upfront, and we take all the risks in terms of whether it’s a hit or whether it’s a flop. The entire financial responsibility falls on us, and we pay them top of the market, regardless.”

As for the rising production costs of K-content, Kang sees it as less of a concern and more of a symptom of a growing entertainment ecosystem. “For someone to say production costs have risen, it means the people who make the show are being compensated more,” he said.