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[시민강좌] 김성철 고려대 교수 - 우리나라 미디어 산업은 잘하고 있나?

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Summary of the lecture: “Is Korea’s media industry doing well?” (Kim Sang-cheol, Korea University)

Professor Kim Sang-cheol argues that Korea’s media ecosystem is undergoing rapid structural change across production, consumption, and distribution. While Korea has strong creative output, it is weak in the “invisible” infrastructure and power needed to retain value globally—especially software/platforms/IP control.

He concludes that Korea should shift from an IT/hardware powerhouse model toward an IP powerhouse, supported by deregulation, scale-building, platform development, and improved education/strategy.

1) Media production is shifting from humans to machines, and from companies to “one-person media”

  • AI-driven automated journalism and content creation is expanding:
    • AI writes articles.
    • Other software helps produce/edit scenarios.
  • Traditional management often doesn’t seriously address fears of journalist job displacement—cost reduction dominates incentives.
  • A second production shift: media creation barriers are collapsing.
    • Previously, entry required passing through media-company “gatekeeping.”
    • Now, anyone can produce dramas/films and distribute via mobile and online platforms.
    • This enables “one-person media” creators to monetize through ads, sponsorships, and fan support.
  • Dark side of one-person media:
    • Fan funding can become socially harmful (e.g., children spending large sums via parents’ credit cards).

Overall production conclusion: Korea is moving from professional/human production → machine production, and from company-centered media → amateur/individual production, changing the “grammar” of making media.

2) Consumption is moving away from traditional news/TV toward short-form, mobile, fandom-driven viewing

  • Traditional media consumption (newspapers/terrestrial broadcasting) is declining sharply:
    • People no longer remember anchors.
    • Paper newspapers are treated as “trash” by many.
    • News reading is replaced by entertainment viewing and missed-drama catch-up.
  • Growing “light media” consumption:
    • More YouTube clips and need-based viewing rather than scheduled TV.
  • Consumption is becoming spatially fragmented:
    • No single shared home viewing time.
    • People watch in cars, offices, and commuting bursts (e.g., 10-minute clips).
  • A major change: the rise of fandom relationships between consumers and media brands:
    • Kim uses Disney and Blizzard as models of fan economies.
    • Fans spend time/money and treat media culture as part of everyday life.
    • Korean examples include EBS and Baby Shark (Pinkfong).

Overall consumption conclusion: Old media declines while subscription/fandom economies and mobile-first consumption rise, often mediated by recommendation algorithms that reduce user choice anxiety.

3) Distribution “windowing” has shattered—global OTTs become the new gatekeepers of value

Kim explains the older era of multi-window distribution (theatrical → cable/IPTV → terrestrial → DVD, etc.), which depended on demand fitting limited channels. Now:

  • Theatrical and terrestrial systems cannot absorb new content, especially during recent disruptions.
  • Producers can’t easily recoup investment through traditional channels, so films/dramas go directly to OTT platforms.
  • Example:
    • A film (Victory) couldn’t get theatrical screens and ended up on Netflix.
    • Kim notes this is “regrettable” because it changes how audiences and distribution operate.

Why this matters

  • Netflix/global OTTs effectively become Korea’s primary “windows.”
  • Kim calls this both a blessing and a problem:
    • Blessing: Korean content reaches the world simultaneously (e.g., Squid Game topping in 83 countries).
    • Problem: global platforms gain stronger control through IP and contract terms, limiting Korea’s ability to retain added value.

He compares the outcome to an older pattern: Korea produces goods but loses brand/IP value to stronger intermediaries. The concern is that Korea is becoming dependent on foreign platforms’ distribution capacity.

4) Corporate strategy: “back-end” dominance + Super IP + acquisitions

Kim argues that global media/platform companies succeed by strengthening:

  1. Back-end digital infrastructure
    • Big data, AI, and cloud/compute scale.
    • He contrasts Korean data-center scale with Google’s global scale.
  2. IP expansion through “one source, multiple uses” (“Super IP”)
    • Disney is used as the prime example: one character/IP drives content, merchandise, games, theme-park experiences, and more.
  3. Aggressive M&A
    • Building a “content/asset empire” by acquiring studios/rights/assets rather than relying only on in-house creation.

He argues Korean companies lag in scale and integration, making it difficult to compete in a digital economy where value comes from invisible systems (data/IP/platform).

5) What Korea is doing well: global breakthroughs prove creative strength

Kim emphasizes Korea’s “calling card” includes:

  • Strong hardware/tech manufacturing capacity historically (e.g., semiconductors, phones, TVs).
  • Increasing global cultural achievements, such as:
    • BTS topping Billboard (leveraging fandom + YouTube/V Live ecosystems).
    • Dongju winning major Oscars.
    • Parasite’s global success framed as learning global “grammar,” including Netflix’s investment in Bong Joon-ho’s earlier work (Okja).
    • Baby Shark becoming a worldwide toddler-video leader through global YouTube distribution.
  • Webtoons as an IP pipeline feeding dramas and films.

6) The dark side: platform dependence, small scale, fragmented IP, weak workforce/management, and policy complexity

Kim identifies major problems holding Korea back:

  • Platform power imbalance
    • Global platforms (US/China) control global distribution visibility.
    • Korea has domestic platforms but lacks comparable global reach.
    • On regulation: Kim warns that policy could restrict foreign firms first, potentially harming domestic growth if misapplied.
  • Small market and small corporate scale
    • Korea’s content market share is estimated at about 1.5–2%, dominated by advanced countries.
    • Limited scale increases reliance on foreign investment, resulting in greater external IP control.
  • Media labor and economic structure issues
    • Irregular work is severe relative to other industries.
    • General staff/crew pay remains low even as actors/writers improve.
    • Revenue-split and usage-fee disputes intensify because the overall “pie” is insufficient.
  • Government fragmentation
    • Multiple ministries/regulators overlap in testing and oversight, implying weak coordination.
  • Societal harms of media evolution
    • Misinformation (fake news), digital divide, and platform-driven negative effects grow alongside convenience.

7) Proposed direction: become an IP powerhouse—scale up, deregulate smartly, build platforms, and reform education

Kim’s final recommendations focus on:

  • Shift from selling tangible products to exporting invisible IP/content
    • Evolve from IT/semiconductor strength to an IP powerhouse.
  • Reduce overregulation
    • Move toward self-regulation/corporate governance, while ensuring user protection.
    • He argues government cannot effectively “run” global competition.
  • Expand market scope beyond 50 million
    • Korea should plan for ~150 million people, with an Asia focus (Japan, Central Asia, Thailand, Vietnam) and efforts to capture part of the US market.
  • Build national champions through alliances and joint investment
    • Use a “fleet” structure to grow SMEs together rather than leaving each to struggle alone.
  • Education reform
    • Current education is portrayed as overly rigid.
    • Needed: convergent, problem-solving, future-oriented learning that breaks disciplinary silos.
  • Media literacy for citizens/users
    • Kim stresses media literacy: citizens should view changes with both “telescopic” and “microscopic” awareness and challenge misinformation.

He concludes with a metaphor of creating a path when none exists, framing Korea’s progress as “miracles” driven by media—BTS and Bong Joon-ho—and arguing the Korean media industry can help create future national development pathways.

Presenters / contributors

  • Kim Sang-cheol (Korea University, Department of Media Studies)

Original video