US companies to invest in producing more than 45 Korean contents

President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a delegation from the Global Contents Group on Thursday (local time) and said, "I hope that today's event will serve as an opportunity to expand further cultural cooperation between the two countries sharing the value of freedom." Disney, Paramount, and Netflix, among other content creators, reciprocated by announcing plans to invest in producing more than 45 Korean contents this year.

President Yoon attended the “Global Creative Industry Leadership Forum” held at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA) building in Washington, D.C. on the same day and said, “States should not put borders between cultures. We will make sure that the Korean film and cultural markets will be incorporated into the global market as combined.” At this forum, Yoon, who received a movie poster signed by the director of Black Panther as a gift from the president of MPA, said that just as Black Panther filmed major scenes in Busan, the Korean government will proactively support the two countries to create content together.

At this meeting, Disney, Paramount, Netflix, and other OTT (over-the-top) providers presented their plans to invest in producing more than 45 Korean contents this year and expressed their intention further to strengthen cooperation with the K-content industry and creators. An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “Six companies within the Motion Picture Association of America account for 77% of the global film and video market and 45% of the global OTT market. Despite being a competitive industry, the Korean content industry was experiencing difficulties entering the international market, including the United States, and this forum will prove to be a new-found opportunity.” According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, exports of the Korean content industry last year increased by 1.5% year-on-year to 13.01 billion dollars, which is more than the exports of home appliances (8.05 billion dollars) and electric vehicles (9.82 billion dollars) – former being Korea’s flagship exports.


Joo-Young Jeon aimhigh@donga.com · Seong-Taek Jeong neone@donga.com