SOUTH KOREA has long been known for its manufacturing prowess, but the Netflix hit Squid Game is taking the country’s cultural clout to another level that augurs well for a new driver of economic growth.
While Korean pop acts and TV dramas have been scoring hits overseas for years, only a handful — boy band BTS, for example — have managed to win many fans outside of Asia. Squid Game, set to become the most-watched show worldwide on Netflix, is changing all that.
Building on the success of the 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite, the new Netflix show about indebted people fighting in a deadly survival game has caught the global mood and is projecting Korea’s growing soft power. It could also help make the country’s cultural exports into much bigger economic contributors.
Netflix says its business last year added $1.9 billion to Korea’s economy all by itself, but the entertainment industry is starting to pull more weight overall. Here are three charts showing that:
See more at: https://www.bworldonline.com/squid-game-helps-boost-korean-soft-power-economy/