Netflix Korea’s $600M Earnings From ‘The Glory’ Under Fire as CEO Declines to Attend Parliamentary Audit*

Netflix Korea is facing criticism as CEO Reginald Shawn Thompson did not attend the Korean National Assembly STIBC annual audit that took place on October 25.

At the same time, the four-man panel referred to Thompson as a witness — but he appeared only through his representative, saying that the platform rakes in huge profits on Korean soil yet fails to reinvest it into K-content.

As reported by KBizoom, this has led to growing criticisms against Netflix from government officials and industry experts who say that the streaming giant is failing to fulfill its responsibilities as an influential player despite its increasing presence here in Korea.

Netflix Korea’s head of policy and legal affairs, Jung Gyo-hwa, replaced Thompson in representing the company. In a letter earlier this week, he stated Thompson does not operate Netflix Korea day-to-day and has “no insight” into what is currently going on in the business.

He added, ‘I was part of the legal team at that time and working specifically outside Korea’ — and when it came to Netflix’s Korean subsidiary days in the ground-level establishment in 2015, he was attending to operational matters only.

Thanks to Song Hye-kyo’s The Glory, the 2023 original series registered global success with 823.3 billion won ($600 million) in revenue.

With the show bringing millions worldwide to sign up when it was first released, Netflix Korea has quickly become one of the biggest players in Korean entertainment.

Now, the box office earnings are being leveraged to advocate for accountability, as Netflix Korea said they want ‘assurance income from the platform is reinvested into korean content.’
According to news reports, for several years in a row, the committee has asked Thompson to appear at the audit, but she has declined.

This year’s absence has fueled allegations that Netflix is neglecting its duty to the Korean market, and critics have called on it to be more transparent in terms of how much it reinvests.

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Rovelyn Barba