Korea Times Content Managing Director Kim Jae-kyoung, left, and Oddins CEO and Co-founder Alin Ko shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding to promote Korea's cultural content and brands on a global scale at the English-language daily's headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The Korea Times, the nation's oldest English-language daily, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Oddins, an influencer management company, to jointly promote Korea's cultural content on a global scale.

The signing ceremony was held on Friday at The Korea Times' headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, attended by Korea Times Content Managing Director Kim Jae-kyoung, Oddins CEO and Co-founder Alin Ko and Oddins COO and Co-founder Kate Park.

The agreement seeks to promote the globalization of Korean culture and brands by establishing an environment where Korean cultural content can be continuously produced through exchanges with foreign media and influencers.

Oddins, boasting its rich pool of creators and influencers, including YouTuber Ha Sisters with over 20 million subscribers from diverse platforms, discovers creators and provides optimal management that combines local networks and resources to expand their activities to the Asian market while connecting overseas influencers who have a strong interest in Korean culture, making it more accessible and incorporating more local authenticity.

"Now, beyond simply delivering news, it's time to collaborate with diverse global media outlets to spread the story of Korea in a more creative and dynamic way. The audience is leading the digital content market with creators around the world, and through this agreement, we expect Korean cultural content to spread even more widely on the global stage," Korea Times content managing director Kim said during a joint signing ceremony held at the newspaper's headquarters.

"We will work closely with Oddins to play a leading role in the globalization of Korean culture and support creators around the world to be more active in Korea."

Oddins CEO Ko acknowledged that the flow of content is changing rapidly with trends shifting from K-pop to K-beauty and now wellness. In this environment, she said staying ahead of the curve and catering to evolving viewer preferences is key.

"In this overall trend, I think it's important to catch which area is in high demand and quickly fill those demands with good content that matches them. Good content leads to a healthy and strong community, so jointly developing high-quality content contributes to building a positive ecosystem," she said.

"It's hard to say exactly where the Korean market's brand-selling power stands right now. That's why I think it's important for us to keep boosting each other through this partnership. Instead of just relying on demand coming in from overseas, we want to play a role in continuously supplying something ourselves — we want to be a pipeline that can provide a steady flow of content and value," she added.