Don Kang: Last News

Netflix this week announced six new Korean romance titles slated for the rest of 2023. They are: “See You in my 19th Life,” “King the Land,” “Behind Your Touch,” “Destined With You,” “A Time Called You,” and “Doona!” The titles were unveiled at an in-person event called “K-romance obsession” in Seoul. Guests were mostly K-drama influencers from around the Asia Pacific region and the event was decked out with reds, pinks and vast numbers of heart decorations. Guests were offered snack food that had been featured in earlier hit K-drama shows including “Crash Landing on You,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Business Proposal” and “Alchemy of Souls.”

When Netflix announced in April that it’s planning to spend $2.5 billion on Korean content across the next four years, on top of the more than $1 billion already spent since 2016, it made the world sit up and take notice.

Rebecca Souw There’s more to Korean TV than a greenlit second season of “Squid Game” and Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO, shed new light on what’s making the “Korean wave” worthy of large-scale commitment. After meeting with leading helmer Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy” and upcoming series “War and Revolt”) and 100 film students a day earlier, Sarandos on Wednesday held a public forum at Seoul’s Four Seasons Hotel on the future of Korean content. The abundant glad-handing follows a public commitment made in April to spend $2.5 billion on original Korean content over the next four years. “[Korean content] is very often unpredictable and catches the American audience by surprise,” said Sarandos at the event. “I think what’s brilliant is to see film, unscripted and series all grow according to the interests of our Korean audience.”

Variety. “We were also inspired by the President’s love and strong support for the Korean entertainment industry and fuelling the Korean wave.”“It is incredible that the love towards Korean shows has led to a wider interest in Korea, thanks to the Korean creators’ compelling stories.

Netflix has unveiled hopes for its next Squid Game with the streamer’s largest ever Korean TV and film slate.

Love And Leashes. The trailer opens with Jung Ji-hoo (played by former U-KISS and UNB member Lee Jun-young) on his first day at a new company, where he’s introduced to a colleague who bears a similar sounding name to his, Jung Ji-woo (Girls’ Generation‘s Seohyun).Things quickly spiral after a parcel that was supposedly addressed to Ji-hoo gets delivered to Ji-woo’s desk, who opens it to find a curious spiked collar. Ji-hoo tries to play off as being for his fictional three-year-old poodle, but Ji-woo quickly learns the truth.“Ji-woo, I was wondering… would you be my master?” Ji-hoo asks Ji-woo in a drunken stupor, marking the start of a racy new relationship between the two colleagues.The upcoming Netflix original film Love And Leashes revolves around a pair of co-workers, Ji-woo and Ji-hoo, who enter a contractual S&M relationship. Love And Leashes is based on the Naver webcomic Moral Sense by Gyeowool.The movie will be directed and written by Park Hyeon-jin, and is due out on February 11 exclusively on the streaming platform.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefStill reveling in the global success of “Squid Game” and “Hellbound,” multinational streaming giant Netflix has scheduled the launch of 25 South Korean shows in the current year. The total is the company’s highest to date.The new slate includes “All of Us Are Dead,” in which zombies invade a high school, and is launching on Jan.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorNetflix’s content team in Korea was pretty sure they had a local hit on their hands in “Squid Game.” But no one at the streaming giant saw a global phenomenon coming when the thriller bowed on Sept. 17, soon to become Netflix’s most-watched original series ever.Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, said the series that has been sampled by some 142 million Netflix households was ordered a few years ago by executives Minyoung Kim and Don Kang on the content team serving South Korea.“They did recognize they thought it would be their biggest title this year,” Sarandos said Tuesday during Netflix’s quarterly earnings video interview released as part of the company’s third-quarter earnings.