In February 2021, Netflix reported that it would invest $500 million in Korean fiction. It was a firm bet for an industry that was setting trends in Asia and had even penetrated the Latin American market for its sense of drama. From 2016 to that date, the company had already dedicated 700 million to the production of content in that market. The results of the maneuver gave the impression of being instantaneous with the premiere of Hwang Dong-hyuk's The Squid Game in September, the most watched series in the history of the platform ahead of Stranger things. And, after chaining one success after another, Netflix wants to ensure this growing market niche, that of fans of Korean fiction: in the next four years, the investment will be 2,500 million.
"We were able to make this decision because we fully trust that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories," explained Ted Sarandos in Washington during a meeting with Yoon Suk Yeol, president of South Korea, where he stressed that "it is incredible that the love for series Korean women has led to a greater interest in Korea.” As Don Kang, vice president of content for Netflix in South Korea, explained to La Vanguardia, “local authenticity is essential when determining the repercussion of content: what we have discovered is that the stories that are liked locally they are much more likely to be liked outside their home country as well.”
The 2,500 million, in addition, are invested at a key moment: the writers' rooms in the United States are empty, with the creatives organized on pickets to demand job improvements in an industry where writing is an increasingly precarious profession, and filming in consequently they are stopped. Netflix may have enough North American productions in the pipeline for the immediate future but in the medium term, calculating that this paralysis of filming and content development can last up to four months, the strike will affect the volume of releases. The luck is that, with the streaming service's ability to re-educate its clientele and make them discover other fictional models, the company has a better chance of coping with the break, with Korean series as main courses.
And it is that, while there were those who saw The Squid Game as a flash in the pan, the company's premieres put on the table that Korean fever is transversal, as indicated by the plots and genres of the series that have attracted the attention of the global audience to date. Here are the series that demonstrate the extent to which Korean series are not simply here to stay: they are here to take the world by storm.
A man up to his eyebrows in debt receives an unusual proposal: to participate in children's games with the aim of winning 34 million euros in prizes. When he wakes up in that competition, he discovers that it is a nightmare: whoever loses, dies. Hwang Dong-hyuk's secret did not consist only in having a provocative premise along the lines of Battle Royale, The Hunger Games or Alice in Borderland, but rather he translated the story into a very critical reading of capitalism and Korean society with an aesthetic worked. In addition to being a vice, he accumulated 1.650 million hours viewed in his first four weeks and a total of 2.282 million in the 19 weeks he remained on the list. After the success of Parasites at the 2020 Oscars, The Squid Game contributed to a change in the perception of Korean acting: this was demonstrated by the SAG Awards from the Hollywood Actors Guild that Lee Jung-jae and HoYeon received, and the Emmy for Best Jung-Jae drama actor.
One fine day, society changes forever: prophetic figures begin to appear out of nowhere and seem to take the citizens to hell. The first scene, designed to leave the viewer glued to the seat and with a bad body, allowed it to be the first successful series after The Squid Game. It is renewed for a second season.
Produced by TvN, it premiered before the squid but its impact spread over time until it became a phenomenon, taking advantage of the fact that Netflix broadcast it to the Korean rhythm instead of releasing the season all at once. This romantic comedy about a dentist (Shin Min-a) who settles in a fishing village, having impeccable chemistry with the local handyman (Kim Seon-ho), spent 16 weeks on the list of most watched series in the English language, accumulating 277 million hours viewed.
A scientific experiment unleashes a zombie wave in Korea, leaving students at a high school incommunicado, having to fight the hungry corpses of their friends to survive. With 560 million hours watched in its first four weeks, We Are Dead became the first major audience phenomenon after The Squid Game just five months after the twisted capitalist game premiered.
Without giving up, while the zombies from We Are Dead were still triumphing in the catalogue, the Juvenile Court made a name for itself in the Korean imagination with Shim Eun-seok, a cold and distant judge who has the future of young delinquents in her hands. Against all odds, she is found to be as stern as she is fair in a series that she is the opposite of warm, delivering some truly tough cases with Kim Hye-soo starring in the role. She led the list of non-English speaking series for two consecutive weeks.
Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong) goes on a blind date to replace her friend, Jin Young-seo (Seol In-ah). The idea is that Ha-ri has a failed date but everything goes awry when she discovers that her date is Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), the director of the company where she works. After El amor es como el chachachá and Aquel año nuestro, Propuesta trabajo penetrated strongly among the most viewed: 13 weeks and 279 million hours of viewing among Netflix subscribers.
Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin) enrolled first in her class but is the only law student not to be barraged with offers from law firms. The reason? Having a high IQ and a photographic memory is of no use to her if potential employers later dismiss her as having autism. But when she enters one of the most prestigious law firms in the country, Ella Woo changes the way her colleagues view the profession. The formula is impeccable: she has episodic court cases, a contagious optimistic spirit, an impeccable tact when it comes to touching on moral issues or the protagonist's disorder, and a romantic plot as K-Drama fans ask for. And the result of Woo, an extraordinary lawyer? It has been among the most viewed for 21 weeks and word of mouth has allowed it to accumulate 662 million hours viewed.
In September 2022, a very free adaptation of Little Women premiered with moderate figures: 9.9 million hours viewed. It narrates the hardships of three sisters after being abandoned by her mother and after she takes the savings so that the little girl could study. Of the older ones, one falls out of favor when her alcoholism at work is discovered and another finds herself in quite a mess: her co-worker defrauds the company, commits suicide and leaves her the stolen 49 million euros that her bosses are looking for. And, as happens with series that are broadcast on a weekly basis, Hermanas managed to stay on the list for 11 weeks.
And, broadcast in two batches spread between December 30 and March 10, the latest phenomenon has been The Glory. Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) was bullied every day of her youth, so she meticulously plans her revenge: she becomes a teacher, starts working at her old school, and decides to pay it back to her enemies by taking advantage of the fact that she has many of their children in the classroom. With 436 million hours watched in its first four weeks, The Glory is the fifth most watched non-English-language series in the platform's history.
