| A poster for Netflix's smash-hit series, "Squid Game" / Courtesy of Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Global streaming platforms, Netflix in particular, have sparked a new hallyu trend, appealing to a broader range of audience members, as evidenced by its smash-hit series, "Squid Game" and "All of Us Are Dead."
Park So-jeong, an assistant research professor of communication at Seoul National University, said the new media environment, led by Netflix, has reshaped the viewing experience of Korean content across the world.
"The development of hallyu is closely related to the transformation of the media environment. And Netflix is signaling a new transformation: not only does it provide a new environment in terms of industry, but it also creates new consumption behavior," she said in an academic conference titled, "Is Netflix Riding the Korean Wave or Vice Versa?" that held online, Friday.
The two-day conference through Saturday was organized by the Center for Hallyu Studies at SNU Asia Center, Institute of East and West Studies at Yonsei University, the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University and the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
"Netflix's Recommender System segments the global audience, not based on nationality but based on the audience's tastes, and its all-at-once release strategy encourages binge-watching, which was considered a fan practice before, but now has become a mainstream behavior."
| Park So-jeong, an assistant research professor of communication at Seoul National University, explains her study during the "Is Netflix Riding the Korean Wave or Vice Versa? Conference" held online, Friday. Screenshot from YouTube |
Park noted that Netflix's recommendation and algorithm-based systems have contributed to introducing Korean content to global viewers, according to the interviews she conducted for her study.
"Netflix's content-based filtering algorithms provide users who do not particularly want to watch Korean content with a chance to stumble upon Korean content," she said.
Researchers at Federal Fluminense University in Brazil said that both Netflix and Korean content are benefiting each other, taking Brazil's case as an example.
"One way hallyu is 'riding' Netflix is its reach in Brazil, the company's second-largest market in the world. Netflix has facilitated access to Korean content, is more affordable (than its competitors in Brazil), and offers more professionally dubbed content," said Daniela Mazur, a Ph.D. candidate studying hallyu at the university.
She added that the significant amount of extra content the company provides through the YouTube platform, such as behind-the-scenes and exclusive interviews, also draws audience members to engage with K-drama's fan-based content.
Mazur added that the K-dramas on Netflix go through a process to make their stories culturally specific but at the same time "universal" in their narrative approaches to appeal to overseas viewers.
"Brazil is an Orientalist country, and Netflix takes advantage of it to circulate Asian content," she said.
However, she also pointed out that the company's strategies to homogenize East Asian content, despite the content being made in different countries, lead original series to be presented around the world without giving credit to the original broadcasters or producers.
"How can this market deal with Netflix's dissimulation and protect its industry (against its imperialistic practices)? This question needs to be the guideline for future research concerning video platforms," Mazur noted.
| Jin Dal-yong, a communication professor at Simon Fraser University and a co-organizer of the conference, "Is Netflix Riding the Korean Wave or Vice Versa?" speaks during the event, Friday. Screenshot from YouTube |
Jin Dal-yong, a communication professor at Simon Fraser University and a co-organizer of the conference, warned that understanding the power relations between the digital platforms and local creators of the content, amid its growing popularity, is critical, using the example of "Squid Game."
"The series' director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, couldn't make the show in Korea, but with Netflix, he got the opportunity for its production … But Netflix made about $900 million with the series, yet Hwang and his team didn't get extra revenue," he said. "Intellectual property is very important but a delicate and complicated issue. Hwang was satisfied with it becoming a sensation, but he didn't get the proper profit he deserves," he said.