Netflix’s S. Korean users triple in 1 yr
The number of South Korean users subscribing to U.S. video streaming platform Netflix Inc. more than tripled in one year, industry data showed Thursday, mainly on the back of the popularity of original local content. Netflix is estimated to have nearly 2.4 million active streaming subscribers as of the end of February, compared with 799,000 users at the end of February 2018, according to Nielsen Korea.
Netflix, which started as a video rental firm in 1997, currently has more than 139 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying original and licensed TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. The company has recently produced more original programs in languages other than English as part of efforts to fund high-quality foreign-language content for audiences around the world. “Kingdom,” Netflix’s first original Korean drama, was released in January. The six-episode zombie mystery thriller is set in Joseon, the last Korean dynasty, and was written by famed Korean screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, author of the popular 2016 TV series “Signal.”
(Yonhap)