According to media industry consultant Cho Young-shin, Korean content creators face a strategic inflection point as global OTT platforms adjust their investments.
"When I first wrote about this, Disney Plus hadn't launched its offensive, and the market was just Netflix. Now Netflix is cutting production costs, while Disney Plus is boosting budgets to gain traction," Cho said. "But if global OTTs reduce their acceptance of our content, that creates an opportunity for us to take our content elsewhere."
Cho argues that Korean companies cannot rely solely on Netflix forever. "If Netflix offers only 500 billion won, we might consider giving that up and entering the global market directly," he explained. He expressed hope that domestic platforms like TVING will nurture this ambition.
The discussion highlights the need for Korean content providers to diversify distribution channels and explore markets in Southeast Asia and beyond.