KUALA LUMPUR: Streaming service Netflix will release 25 Korean-language works, including five original films this year, hot on the heels of last year's sensation Squid Game.
In a statement yesterday, Netflix said: "In a bid to continue the successful Korean storytelling, Netflix will release more than 25 Korean contents this year. We will provide Netflix-exclusive creative stories and high quality that meets viewers' demand."
Last year, Netflix provided 20 Korean-language shows, including Squid Game, fantasy horror Hellbound and the science-fiction thriller The Silent Sea, all of which topped the company's weekly viewership chart for non-English TV shows.
Squid Game made history by becoming the most successful Netflix show. It was viewed for more than 1.65 billion hours in the first four weeks after its release on Sept 17.
"Last year, it was significant that Netflix joined hands with Korean creators to open a new era for Korean shows," said Netflix, which has introduced 130 Korean shows and invested more than US$839.3 million (RM3,518 million) in South Korea since its entry in 2016.
Demand for Korean content rose sharply in 2021 as Netflix subscribers spent six times more time watching Korean shows at the end of last year than the past two years.
Squid Game saw about 95 per cent of its total streaming hours come from foreign countries including the United States, Brazil and France.
The new Korean-language shows this year include the zombie series All Of Us Are Dead which will premiere on Jan 28. Adapted from the webtoon Now At Our School, it is set in a high school where a virus turns students into zombies.
Other notable shows are the crime thriller Juvenile Justice, fantasy The Sound Of Magic, and Money Heist: Korea, a Korean adaptation of the Spanish series Money Heist.
The films produced by Netflix are the romances Moral Sense and 20th Century Girl, action films Carter and Seoul Vibe, and science-fiction film Jung-E.
