Is Netflix Good for Korean Dramas?

Netflix continues to churn out a strong selection of Korean dramas, both as a distributor and producer of Netflix Originals. Crash Landing on You, Itaewon Class, and It’s Okay to Not Be Okay are some of the more recent international hits available on the streaming service; new seasons of Kingdom and Arthdal Chronicles are rumored to be on their way. And Netflix shows no signs of stopping. Multi-year partnerships with CJ ENM (tvN/Mnet/OCN), Studio Dragon, and JTBC are positioning the media giant to continue growing its already-sizeable collection of Korean content.

Netflix’s market dominance means that Korean dramas are more accessible to international audiences than ever before. What does this mean for dramas? Here are five of the positives and negatives of Netflix’s growing k-drama collection.

Multi-season dramas?!

One of the most surprising changes for seasoned k-drama fans has been the gradual shift toward multi-season dramas. This is a huge departure from the 16-episode standard, give or take a few episodes for cancellations and extensions. Despite second seasons from shows like Welcome to Waikiki and Voice, open-ended primetime dramas have been almost non-existent.

For My First First Love, Netflix simply split the drama into halves, airing them a few months apart as separate 8-episode seasons. More recently, however, Kingdom has been positioned as an ongoing, multi-season series. Jun Ji-hyun’s reveal at the very end of Season 2, as well as the resolution of the initial story arc, seems to indicate that the drama is leaving the door open for future seasons.

While no one likes to say goodbye to a well-loved drama, there is something unique about the finite nature of a 16-episode story arc. Good dramas use that structure to their advantage, pacing out episodes so that all of the character stories reach a satisfying conclusion. This is far more difficult in an ongoing series. All too often, multi-season shows over-extend themselves by introducing unnecessary conflict or making bizarre character swerves.

Verdict? Bad for dramas.

More pre-production

The live-shoot system means that scripts for later episodes are finalized while earlier episodes air, giving the writer an opportunity to pivot the storyline (and add additional product placement) based on ratings and audience reactions. Filming and editing happens days, if not hours, before the episode airs. These practices not only lead to production mistakes, but also endanger cast and crew members who may be literally working day and night to complete a shoot.

Many Netflix dramas are joint ventures with Korean networks and cable companies that keep the normal live-shoot system intact. Netflix simply airs new episodes after the Korean broadcast is finished. But as Netflix continues to expand their in-house drama production infrastructure, production practices may shift toward a more traditional model that’s easier on everyone involved. My First First Love and Kingdom were both entirely pre-produced, and it’s likely The Silent Sea, an upcoming Netflix production starring Gong Yoo and Bae Doona, will be as well. (Gong Yoo has spoken openly about the exhausting pace of drama shoots — one of the reasons he prefers movie projects.)

Verdict? Good for dramas. (And cast and crew members! And Gong Yoo!)

Translation … choices

While Netflix offers an impressive range of subtitle options, they often fail to translate the nuances of the Korean language — nuances that reveal key information about our characters and their relationships to each other.

Netflix generally omits or replaces terms like “oppa” and “unni.” But these titles are important. In Second 20s, Ha No-ra’s classmates only begin calling her “unni” (a term women use for an older sister) after No-ra calls out the handsy professor at their class outing. Previously, the young women in the class had stayed distant from No-ra, embarrassed about her age and inexperience. Netflix doesn’t bother to translate this shift in relationship at all.

Another important aspect of the Korean language is the use of politeness levels. In It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Gang-tae consistently uses semi-formal speech with Nam Ju-ri, despite having known her and her mother for a long time. Ju-ri, who is in love with Gang-tae, is crushed when she realizes that he slips easily into casual speech with her rival, Ko Moon-young. At one point, she realizes he still uses the honorific “ssi” after her name, yet easily shouts Moon-young’s name without it.

While these subtleties may be difficult to translate, they’re not impossible. Viki’s community-based subtitles retain relationship terms as-is and often include parenthetical notes when characters change formality levels or use slang. Long-time k-drama watchers can probably pick up on these instances even without translation, but new viewers are losing out on helpful and interesting context.

Verdict? Bad for dramas.

Copyright licenses

Ever since Netflix started expanding their selection of older dramas, viewers have noticed that the streaming giant seems to swap out soundtracks to save money on copyright licenses. My ID Is Gangnam Beauty lost “New Face” by Psy; Another Miss Oh lost some background music entirely. (Something in the Rain was also rumored to suffer this fate. As it turns out, the original soundtrack just featured a few really repetitive, really questionable choices.)

In other cases, scenes are cut altogether. The Reply series, which relies heavily on pop culture references from their respective years, is missing scenes where characters sing non-Korean pop songs. Let’s Eat also has a cut karaoke scene. These omissions often leave the episodes feeling disjointed and confusing.

Verdict? Bad for dramas.

Catalog depth

Netflix’s investment in Korean content has been steadily increasing over the last five to ten years. They now have just over 100 k-dramas available on the US version of the site. Even better, they’ve started to buy up older dramas that became inaccessible after the collapse of Dramafever (Iris, Tomorrow with You, Dear My Friends). Dramas like Misaeng, Prison Playbook, and Signal aren’t available on other major platforms like Viki and Kocowa.

That’s not to say all popular dramas are available on Netflix. Viki still holds the US rights to Goblin, Descendants of the Sun, and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, as well as a larger catalog of classics.

Netflix, however, is more accessible for people who don’t want to subscribe to a k-drama-specific service. And Netflix’s recommendation engine, personalized thumbnails, and auto-play trailers are exposing dramas to a brand new audience.

Verdict? Good for dramas!