The Netflix series "Squid Game" is played on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Illustration
The government last week announced plans to provide 500 billion won to help local streaming platforms compete with global rivals such as Netflix amid soaring production costs. The "Netflix Effect", a term coined for the phenomenon that launches actors and directors from obscurity to instant stardom when their shows appear on the platform, is a part of South Korea's success.
In 2022, the U.S. firm reported an operating profit of 14.28 billion won in South Korea, a stark contrast to Tving's operating loss of 119 billion won. That has prompted some Korean politicians to call for Netflix to better reward creators when their projects succeed. Creators who have worked with Netflix say the company has taken a chance on them when others did not. "Squid Game" creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said in various interviews in 2021 the series was rejected multiple times before being picked up by Netflix.