Netflix says Korean series and films logged more than 12bn viewing hours on its service between April 2025 and March 2026, more than any country of origin except the US, figures the company released as co-CEO Ted Sarandos marked its tenth year in Korea at a fan event in Seoul on 24–25 October, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported.
Key facts
- Event: “Netflix Janchi”, 24–25 October, Oil Tank Culture Park, Seoul; more than 10,000 attendees and about 3.5 million cumulative online views.
- Netflix-reported: more than 200 Korean titles have entered its Global Top 10 since June 2021; over 80% of members worldwide have watched at least one.
- Dated releases: Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love on 6 November; Tantara on 11 December.
- Undated: Grand Galaxy Hotel, She, Wolf, All of Us Are Dead season 2 and the live-action Solo Leveling.
All of these numbers are Netflix’s own, not independent audience measurement. They were released in a week when the company changed its head of content and cut staff. For Korean producers, they are Netflix’s case that the country stays central to its content spending.
What Netflix put on the table
The company said Korean content is the most-watched category of non-English programming on the service. The three seasons of Squid Game hold the top three places on its all-time list of most-watched non-English series, and this year’s Teach You a Lesson entered that list at No. 10, according to both trades. Variety added that the first Squid Game season spent 32 consecutive weeks in the Global Top 10, nine of them at No. 1.
On production, Netflix told Variety it worked with more than 80 Korean production companies between 2016 and 2025, on shows employing over 20,000 cast and crew plus about 70,000 extras and day workers. More than half of the shoots took place outside the Seoul Capital Area, in places such as Busan, Jeonju and Jeju. One series, When Life Gives You Tangerines, used close to 4,000 suppliers and added more than KRW90bn ($60.4m, Variety’s conversion) to the Korean economy, by the company’s estimate. More than a third of its Korean titles in 2024–26 came from first-time directors or writers.
Unscripted formats travel too. Physical: 100 was the first non-English unscripted show to lead the Global Top 10, and local versions have been made in Italy and Mexico, with US, French and Swedish editions in development.
The slate
Sarandos introduced the titles on stage on Saturday. Possible Love won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at Venice and has played in select cinemas since 23 September, What’s on Netflix reported. It reaches the service on 6 November, about six weeks after its cinema opening. Tantara, a period series about the Korean entertainment business from the 1960s to the 1980s with Song Hye-kyo and Gong Yoo, follows on 11 December. The other four titles were shown without trailers or release windows.
Netflix entered Korea on 6 January 2016. Its first Korean series, Kingdom, arrived in January 2019.
The backdrop
The anniversary came days after Netflix named Peter Rice chief content officer in place of Bela Bajaria and announced layoffs of about 1,000 staff, The Hollywood Reporter said. Netflix did not give a new Korean investment figure in Seoul, and it does not break out Korean subscriber numbers or local revenue. Our Netflix tag page has its recent European prebuys, including the four-buyer deal on Le grand réveil. For the state of Korean cinemas, see our latest Korea box office report, and for the investors circling Asian content, our report from Busan’s ACFM.
Our reading
The 12bn-hour figure is the one Korean producers will quote in their next negotiation, and the one Netflix wants them to quote. It shows Korean work is a core supply line for the service, not a regional add-on. It does not show what Netflix pays for that supply, and the company kept its spending figures out of the celebration.
The Possible Love window deserves attention. A Venice prizewinner from one of Korea’s most respected directors gets roughly six weeks in cinemas before streaming, which suits Netflix’s awards push but leaves exhibitors a short run with a prestige title. The next evidence is the 2027 calendar: whether the four undated series arrive in the first half, and whether the new content chief keeps Korean commissioning at its current level.