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Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at an event marking

 the 10th anniversary of Netflix’s service in Korea. <Netflix>

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited Korea to mark the 10th anniversary of the streamer’s Korean service, calling the country a valued partner in building the company’s future. Speaking at an anniversary event, Sarandos said stories that began in Korea have been embraced across every border and language barrier, and that Korea is where Netflix learned how far a single story can travel. He added that the next 10 years would open up possibilities the company has yet to imagine.

Since launching in Korea in 2016, Netflix has blurred the lines between film, drama and unscripted programming in the country, reshaping its production ecosystem from financing through post-production.

During the visit, Sarandos met separately with Lee and Hong to congratulate them on their recent achievements. Lee’s Possible Love, his first project with Netflix, won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. It has also been selected as South Korea’s submission for best international feature film at the 99th Academy Awards. Hong’s series Teach You a Lesson reached Netflix’s Top 10 in 91 countries and entered the platform’s all-time list of the 10 most-watched non-English shows. Sarandos described Hong as a singular storyteller who brings heavy, uncomfortable but necessary stories to audiences around the world.

On Oct. 23, Sarandos toured the National Museum of Korea. Among the works he viewed was Irworobongdo (Sun, Moon and Five Peaks), the Joseon Dynasty royal screen painting that inspired the animated feature KPop Demon Hunters.

According to Netflix, the company worked with more than 80 Korean production companies to produce or co-produce more than 200 Korean titles between 2016 and 2025. Over the past three years, at least one in three Korean originals it released came from a new director or writer. The clearest symbol of Korean content’s global reach remains Squid Game. Released in 2021, the series won six Emmy Awards in 2022, a first for a non-English-language drama.

A 10th-anniversary special by Korean film magazine Cine21 traces the changes back to the development stage. Projects whose subject matter or intensity would have made them hard for traditional broadcasters to schedule can now secure financing. Series are no longer bound to the 16-episode format long standard for Korean dramas, and runs of six, eight or 10 episodes are now set to suit each story. Seo Jong-hae, CEO of production company Mizi, produced the Netflix film 84m². He said having Netflix as an option helps offset the risk of projects that would struggle to break even in theaters.

Production management has changed as well. Netflix adapted Hollywood production manuals to Korean sets. It also stresses a “Fix in Pre” principle: spot problems likely to surface in post-production early, so key decisions can be made sooner. Son Seung-hyun, CEO of VFX studio Westworld, oversaw the visual effects on Sweet Home. He said Netflix gave his team eight months of pre-production to build the series’ creatures.

The most significant shift is the erosion of boundaries. Kim Ji-yeon, CEO of Squid Game producer Firstman Studio, called it an inevitable direction for the industry that film directors now helm series and that broadcast and film crews increasingly work together. Lee said Netflix’s consistent respect for directorial independence made Possible Love the most comfortable production of his career. When an auteur recognized at the world’s leading festivals partners with a streamer, it shows that Netflix’s role in Korea has grown beyond supplying genre titles to backing auteur cinema.

Distribution has changed too. Korean titles once reached overseas markets through international sales agents, usually after succeeding at home. Now, simultaneous release in more than 190 countries delivers global audience response at once. Cine21 noted that as the industry expands, keeping its ecosystem fair and stable will depend on the next choices Netflix makes as the industry’s leading platform. Possible Love now awaits the Academy’s shortlist announcement for best international feature film.

Sources

• Yonhap News Agency, “Netflix CEO Sarandos Calls Korea a Valued Partner, Expects New Possibilities,” 2026.10.26

• Cine21, “[Special] Setting the Standard in the Age of Content,” 2026.10.21