We need ‘paradigm shift in how Korean content is created,’ K Wave Media CEO says

[INTERVIEW]

Korean content is no longer a niche curiosity — it’s a worldwide attraction, with K-dramas and K-movies now leading the “K” trend, a global cultural shorthand for Korea.

Riding this wave, K Wave Media (KWM) became the first Korean multi-entertainment company to be listed on Nasdaq in May.

KWM is a multi-entertainment company, with four renowned Korean production studios under its arm — Bidangil Pictures, The LAMP Pictures, Apeitda and Studio Anseilen — along with K-pop merchandising company Play Company and investment equity Solaire Partners.

The company released its first project last month, Netflix’s latest series “Trigger,” created by its subsidiary, Bidangil Pictures.

Though only three months have passed since its Nasdaq debut in May, it has already achieved promising results with its first portfolio work, ranking in the global Top 10 non-English TV shows list for four consecutive weeks.

Taking the unusual step of listing abroad, KWM CEO and co-founder Ted Kim said it felt like the “right time” to make the move.

“We really felt the U.S. market was ready for a public entertainment company out of Korea,” Kim said, adding that plans for the listing began two years ago.

The company, with a market cap of $124 million as of August 25, is now taking a significant step to expand the impact of Korean content and reshape the global K-content landscape.

To discuss how this new multi-entertainment entity sees the future of K-content and where it fits in, the Korea JoongAng Daily sat down with CEO Kim via video interview earlier this month.

A paradigm shift in the Korean production landscape

Korean content is riding high across global streaming platforms, notably Netflix, where it ranked second only to U.S. content in total viewing time since 2023, according to Ampere.

Yet, despite what may seem a golden moment for Korean studios, they still struggle to gain financial stability.

One reason Kim sees is that many intellectual property (IP) rights for Korean studio-created productions are owned not by the studios but by platforms like Netflix. The streaming giant often secures the IP rights of its Korean exclusive content, more commonly known as Netflix Originals, by covering a substantial portion of their production cost up front.

Like so, although Korea has numerous successful scripted projects like “Squid Game” (2021-25) and “Kingdom” (2019-21), it stood at zero in the number of companies that hold IPs, according to a report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on July 17.

The report showed that among the top 50 global licensors, Korea had none, while the United States had 32, Japan had seven, China and France had two and Sweden, Britain, Canada, Italy, Germany, Finland and Denmark had one each.

With KWM, Kim aims to elevate Korean production studios that strive to create “top-class” content by giving production teams more rights and greater financial control over their projects, ensuring they share in the profits.

“Netflix tends to take all the upside and all the IP rights,” Kim pointed out. “Because we are now a publicly listed company, we can raise money using our public company status here in the United States. So what we plan to do is provide a bigger portion of the production with our own capital.”

By doing so, KWM wishes to “retain more of the upside and keep some of the IP rights” — what Kim calls a “paradigm shift in how Korean content is created.”

Now, owning IP rights has become an essential means of generating profit, especially when the original IP achieves major success, leading to spinoffs or sequels.

Kim also emphasized the importance of IP ownership, which KWM and he see as the “key” for many Korean content studios to overcome their struggles, with production studios “barely breaking even.”

“Unless the Korean studios maintain and own the IP rights and can engage in IP licensing, IP remakes and spinoffs, and have the legal power to do so, they will continue to struggle financially, even though they can produce world-class content,” he said.

For KWM, this reality led it to leap into the world’s largest market. “Let’s bring a ton of good capital to K-content, take certain risks, then make sure that our studios maintain the IP rights, maybe not all IP rights, but at least some of the IP rights,” said Kim.

Is owning IP rights enough?

But Kim believes that owning IP rights alone is not enough for Korean content to soar to the next level globally. He pointed out two areas that every Korean content company, including KWM, needs to strengthen: distribution and coproduction.

Kim noted that the industry’s heavy reliance on a few platforms, such as Netflix and Disney+, will continue the ongoing challenge, voicing the need for “strengthening and diversifying the distribution network,” while recognizing that it will require significant effort and investment. KWM is currently exploring other distribution pathways overseas.

Another global strategy K-content production companies should adopt is coproduction, encompassing joint ventures and collaborations among actors and writers from different countries, as well as IP licensing partnerships.

“I think for Korean content to be truly global, they should be more open to the idea of coproducing and also investing, of course, in overseas content companies,” Kim said, adding that demand is particularly robust in Asia, with countries like Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia showing interest.

In Kim’s view, this trend could spark an “Asian content renaissance” in the coming years, with Korea leading the way. “[By doing so,] Korea can lead what I call Pan-Asia content production,” he said.

As part of its mission to elevate Korean content, KWM is also exploring a rather cutting-edge avenue, blockchain technology, to raise money for production. Kim said the initiative is currently undergoing both legal and technical review.

KWM sees its potential, referring to it as a “game changer.” He stressed that cryptocurrency would serve as a “strategic reserve” for the company, not as working capital. In other words, the company won’t be selling it, but will open a pathway for cryptocurrency holders to invest in and consume their projects and products using it.

The strategic move is to make investing in KWM easier and less complicated for those outside of Korea, Kim said. And by utilizing bitcoin or other authorized cryptocurrencies, Kim believes the process could enable “borderless investment and borderless consumption.”

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]