Netflix / Designed by Kpopmap
Think about any popular K-Drama released since 2016—where can you find it? Chances are it's streaming on Netflix right now. The streaming platform's dominance is evident from its catalog of hits, which includes 2024 K-Drama “Queen of Tears," which garnered over 5.1 million views in its first three days, and Netflix K-Drama "Squid Game," which noted 1.65 billion hours watched in its first 28 days.
Not only that, out of approximately 101 K-Dramas of 2024, practically all the major productions, including "A Killer Paradox," "Chicken Nugget," "Sweet Home 3," "The Frog," "Love Next Door," "Doctor Slump," and "Lovely Runner," either premiered on Netflix or found their way to the platform shortly after their initial release.
This enthusiasm of the platform for acquiring Korean content has marked the beginning of an era where it has become the go-to place for K-Content. To place things in numbers, Netflix has invested over $1 billion into Korean entertainment since 2016, when it first began securing licensing deals with local networks. As of April 2023, the platform has pledged an additional $2.5 billion investment over the next four years. The immense success of series like "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and "The Glory" (both surpassing 400 million viewing hours globally) and "All of Us Are Dead" (over 560 million hours) shows that this investment isn't going to stop anytime soon.
However, the investment and release of Netflix originals come with a price. To understand it and its concerns, let's take a closer look at the streaming landscape and the evolution of K-Dramas themselv
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