‘We’re living in extraordinary times’: Why Korean dramas are a hit on Netflix

We knew there would be a before and after game of Squid on Netflix. However, the popularity of Korean content is not limited to the planetary success of this series, whose second season is currently in full swing!

Enriched with new additions every week, Netflix’s catalog of South Korean productions is enjoying increasing success with the platform’s subscribers. While some thought it was just a temporary fad, the k-dramas phenomenon continues to grow in popularity over the weeks.

To better understand the reasons behind this incredible enthusiasm, we were able to speak exclusively in France with Dong Kang, Vice President of Netflix Original Content in South Korea!

How can we explain the current craze for Korean dramas, especially romantic dramas produced by Netflix?

Dong Kang (VP of Netflix Original Content in South Korea): There’s no particular reason, at least not one that seems to me to justify this enthusiasm. We talked about this with director Park Chan-wook recently, and it’s true that the expectations of Korean viewers are generally very high, which obligates us to ensure that our content is always of high quality.

Especially in the case of romantic dramas, I would say that love is a universal theme, even if our screenwriters mix in typical Korean themes. As well as the series Crash Landing on You, which stirs up relations between North Korea and South Korea. Or at least I’ll see you in my next life, which evokes the main character’s past life and the idea of ​​reincarnation.

The formula is the same, but the approach is different each time. So combining these typically Korean themes with romantic comedy codes and identifying characters, I think this is the main reason for the international popularity of these series.

France maintains privileged links with Asian culture. And yet, over the past few years, K-dramas have evolved from series for niche audiences to mainstream productions that appeal to larger audiences. How do you explain this?

We are delighted that Asian products are succeeding in France. This is an extraordinary hobby. Before I joined Netflix, I was already working on the international distribution of Korean productions.

A few years ago it was really difficult to sell the rights of our films outside our borders and on the Asian continent. No one cared what we were producing at that time. That’s why I decided to join Netflix, because streaming makes it possible to connect all audiences around the world, and the program can now be discovered in four corners of the world at the same time.

Our mission is to create quality content to appeal to our local audience. And chances are pretty good that if a series works in its home country, then it will likely do well in other parts of the world as well. Thanks to dubbing and subtitling, each series can speak to all audiences in its original language.

With the traditional distribution network, there will be a gap of several years between the release in South Korea and the rest of the world. Thus, the advent of streaming has done a lot for the Korean drama industry and their growing popularity internationally.

We saw the arrival of the Korean remake of La Casa de Papel. Can we expect more reruns of hits like Netflix? Or vice versa international remakes of Korean series like the French version of Squid Game?

(laugh) is a big question! Creatively speaking, we live in truly extraordinary times! And especially when it comes to the development of large licenses. We have started the final exams, but I believe that the correct methodology is not to do remakes in the sense of doing exactly the same Korean.

It would make sense if the series was only a local hit, and the new version could bring it to a completely different audience. It won’t really make sense to repeat the same thing as it is, you have to introduce something new. There are many opportunities in this regard, and the times we live in now allow us to implement these projects.