Yoon meets Netflix CEO, soliciting 2.5-billion-dollar investment

President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos in Washington, D.C., as the first appointment in his state visit to the U.S, soliciting a 2.5-billion-dollar investment in the Korean content industry. On Thursday, President Yoon will meet leaders of six major media giants in the U.S., namely, Paramount, Warner Brothers Discovery, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, and Netflix, at a global video content leadership forum and call for their investment in K-content.

Yoon welcomed Netflix executives at Blair House with First Lady. Mr. Sarandos announced a 2.5 billion-dollar investment over the next four years to produce more K-dramas, movies, and reality shows. This is more than twice the amount of Netflix’s investment in K-content for the past seven years since 2016. “Global content businesses will think positively about making investments in Korea, now that they know for sure that the K-content industry is the Korean president’s significant concern,” said a person in the film investment and distribution industry.

“Mr. Sarandos likened Netflix’s relationship with Korean content companies to the ROK-U.S. alliance, and I agree 100 percent,” said Yoon. “The South Korea-U.S. alliance is a value alliance that defends freedom, and culture is essential to defending and expanding freedom,” the Korean president stressed. “There are great stories in Korean works, and Netflix is exporting Korean culture to the world,” Sarandos responded.


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