The South Korean
format ecosystem

South Korea has quickly established a prominent position in the international export of TV formats. While this success is often attributed to a single show, *The Masked Singer*, it is by no means an isolated phenomenon. The country has positioned itself globally as a creative export powerhouse. The global breakthrough of Gangnam Style, the Oscar-winning film Parasite, and the Netflix series Squid Game illustrate a broader cultural expansion known internationally as Hallyu, or the Korean Wave.

Cultural conditions

Culturally, South Korea exhibits a high degree of uncertainty avoidance and relatively strong social normativity. Deviance and experimentation are less readily accepted than in, for example, the Netherlands. Formats hold no distinct public value within the public broadcasting system; public broadcasters invest very little in format development.

Political-economic conditions

From a political-economic perspective, the ecosystem is also ambivalent. Vertical integration is high: many production companies are part of broadcasting groups, which means that rights typically remain with the broadcasters, and the terms of trade for independent producers in the traditional broadcast market are unfavorable. Competition between broadcasters and streaming services is intense, but it primarily fuels domestic ratings wars rather than international format development.

Market size as a driver of exports

With over 50 million inhabitants, South Korea’s domestic market is considerably smaller than those of Japan or Germany. From a comparative perspective, this justifies classifying it as a medium-sized market. This smaller size has a similar effect to that seen in the Netherlands: international expansion becomes an economic necessity more quickly than in very large markets where domestic operations generate sufficient returns. The market size thus acts as a structural incentive for exports, even though the institutional conditions are less favorable than in the Dutch case.

Anglo-Saxon proximity as a constructed factor

South Korea’s Anglo-Saxon proximity scores moderately high, but the nature of that proximity differs significantly from countries such as the Netherlands or Scandinavia, where it is primarily determined by cultural and historical factors. In South Korea, international proximity has been actively constructed to a large extent. Through KOCCA offices in Los Angeles, London, and other key markets, through a presence at international format markets such as MIPCOM and MipJunior, and through targeted investment in English-language pitching capabilities, Korean producers and government organizations have built networks that effectively create proximity. This distinction is analytically relevant: whereas cultural proximity is a given environmental factor, constructed proximity is a policy outcome and thus also more vulnerable to discontinuity.

Streamers as structural reinforcements

The role of international streaming platforms, particularly Netflix, is more substantial in the South Korean context than in most other markets. Netflix has not only acquired content but has also actively invested in local production capacity. These investments have expanded the production infrastructure and, through the global success of Squid Game, exponentially increased international interest in Korean content. For formats, the direct impact is more limited than for fiction, but the reputational spillover is significant: South Korea has been put on the global creative map by streaming success in a way that facilitates format distribution.

Terms of trade: a dichotomy

The terms of trade in the traditional broadcast market are unfavorable: rights remain with the networks, and independent producers have limited bargaining power. At the same time, a growing divide is emerging. Producers working with international streamers negotiate different and generally more favorable rights structures, in which intellectual property is more often shared or retained by the producer. This creates tension within the ecosystem: a traditional segment with weak rights positions and a streamer-oriented segment with greater exploitation opportunities. For the long-term future of South Korean format exports, the relevant question is to what extent this latter segment is beginning to influence the production culture and incentive structure of the ecosystem as a whole.

Government intervention as a compensation mechanism

The fact that South Korea has built a strong international position despite structurally unfavorable conditions is the result of a deliberate and long-term cultural policy. Since the beginning of this century, the government has been systematically investing in the international promotion and distribution of cultural content. KOCCA supports exports, market access, and international networking. The focus is less on direct creative development and more on global distribution and positioning. Since the success of The Masked Singer, format distribution has become an explicit part of this strategy.

In terms of the Format Innovation Model, South Korea demonstrates how government intervention can compensate for an ecosystem where cultural and institutional incentives are less likely to naturally stimulate innovation. Where internal legal structures and normative culture may limit experimentation, international strategy acts as a catalyst.

In termen van het Format Innovatie Model laat Zuid-Korea zien hoe overheidsinterventie een ecosysteem kan compenseren waar culturele en institutionele prikkels minder vanzelfsprekend innovatie stimuleren. Waar interne rechtenstructuren en normatieve cultuur experiment kunnen beperken, fungeert internationale strategie als katalysator.

Sustainability of the model

However, reliance on government intervention as the primary driver of exports introduces a structural vulnerability. Policy priorities can shift, budgets can be revised, and political discontinuity can put pressure on the export infrastructure built up through KOCCA. The fundamental question for South Korea’s long-term position is whether the ecosystem will develop an autonomous capacity for innovation that can function independently of government support. In the Netherlands, the export position has grown organically from producers who have built up their own international networks and rights positions. In South Korea, this autonomous production capacity remains limited by the weak terms of trade in the traditional broadcast market. The emergence of streaming-oriented producers with stronger rights positions offers promise, but is not yet sufficient to offset the structural dependence on government policy.

Format Innovation model

All factors are expressed as innovation contribution scores — the larger the radar shape, the stronger the ecosystem. Market size and Vert. integration are inverted (marked inv.) and relabelled to reflect their innovation contribution directly. Overall scores (1–10) are qualitative assessments based on the full country analysis.