By Kim Bo-eun
Netflix claimed it contributed an estimated 5.6 trillion won ($4.8 billion) to the local economy ahead of the National Assembly's audit set to grill the U.S. entertainment platform over shouldering network costs.
The content streaming giant held an online event titled "Netflix Partner Day," Wednesday, with partner firms that specialize in sound effects and audio production, visual and special makeup effects, translating and dubbing to present their collective achievements via collaboration with the contents service provider.
The company stressed its socio-economic impact referring to a report compiled by global consulting firm Deloitte. The report said Netflix's investment in content production in Korea created a spillover effect in related fields from publishing to webtoons, consumer goods and tourism. It also helped create more than 16,000 jobs here, the company said.
Since Netflix launched its services here in 2016, it has created 80 locally produced shows and films that have been made available in 190 countries. Among them, Squid Game has made it to the No. 1 spot on Netflix U.S., becoming the first Korean series to reach that spot.
The company said its platform has facilitated the spread of "hallyu" or the Korean Wave through original Korean shows such as "Kingdom."
"These have all led to increased sales and employment in linked industries in line with the globalization of the Korean Wave," Netflix said. Since 2016, Netflix has invested a total of 770 billion won to create local content and pledged to spend 550 billion won this year, which is 70 percent of the last five years' investments.
But the "Partner Day" stint is widely seen as a strategic move to instill a positive image of the company ahead of a looming National Assembly audit set to address the issue surrounding Netflix's opposition to paying for network usage.
Netflix is currently embroiled in a law suit with SK Broadband over the use of the latter's network. The SK affiliate is demanding that the media content platform pay for investments it made into upgrading the network to be able to accommodate the surge in Netflix subscribers.
The Seoul Central District Court in June dismissed a request by Netflix to confirm that it is not liable to pay to use SK Broadband's network. Netflix has appealed against the ruling.
A Netflix official has been summoned to the National Assembly's audit hosted by the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee next month, where he is set to be questioned over the issue.
The "Partner Day" media event was pre-recorded and therefore did not take any questions from reporters.
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| Netflix logo / Korea Times file |
The content streaming giant held an online event titled "Netflix Partner Day," Wednesday, with partner firms that specialize in sound effects and audio production, visual and special makeup effects, translating and dubbing to present their collective achievements via collaboration with the contents service provider.
The company stressed its socio-economic impact referring to a report compiled by global consulting firm Deloitte. The report said Netflix's investment in content production in Korea created a spillover effect in related fields from publishing to webtoons, consumer goods and tourism. It also helped create more than 16,000 jobs here, the company said.
Since Netflix launched its services here in 2016, it has created 80 locally produced shows and films that have been made available in 190 countries. Among them, Squid Game has made it to the No. 1 spot on Netflix U.S., becoming the first Korean series to reach that spot.
The company said its platform has facilitated the spread of "hallyu" or the Korean Wave through original Korean shows such as "Kingdom."
"These have all led to increased sales and employment in linked industries in line with the globalization of the Korean Wave," Netflix said. Since 2016, Netflix has invested a total of 770 billion won to create local content and pledged to spend 550 billion won this year, which is 70 percent of the last five years' investments.
But the "Partner Day" stint is widely seen as a strategic move to instill a positive image of the company ahead of a looming National Assembly audit set to address the issue surrounding Netflix's opposition to paying for network usage.
Netflix is currently embroiled in a law suit with SK Broadband over the use of the latter's network. The SK affiliate is demanding that the media content platform pay for investments it made into upgrading the network to be able to accommodate the surge in Netflix subscribers.
The Seoul Central District Court in June dismissed a request by Netflix to confirm that it is not liable to pay to use SK Broadband's network. Netflix has appealed against the ruling.
A Netflix official has been summoned to the National Assembly's audit hosted by the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee next month, where he is set to be questioned over the issue.
The "Partner Day" media event was pre-recorded and therefore did not take any questions from reporters.
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