Oksusu – which means “corn” in Korean – is run by SK Telecom and is the largest video streaming service in South Korea with around 9.5 million subscribers. MBC and SBS each hold a 40 per cent stake in Pooq, which has some 3.7 million subscribers, while KBS controls the other 20 per cent. Pooq has partnerships with Hong Kong’s ViuTV, Malaysia’s iflix and China’s iQiyi, which the new streaming service will use to target other Asian markets with its content.

Some observers believe this alliance could succeed in keeping Netflix out.

“I think the conglomerates in Korea have enough influence and control over the Korean entertainment industry to have a good shot at defending the market,” said Joseph Lim, a professor of tech and entrepreneurship at Yonsei University and an adviser to start-ups in Seoul.

Netflix was considered only a minor threat when it entered South Korea in 2016, held back by its mostly Hollywood-based content and lack of Korean offerings. But it has shifted its focus to capturing local audiences. Last year it poured nearly US$8 billion into producing original content, with a focus on telling country-specific stories using local talent. Netflix invested heavily in South Korean drama Mr. Sunshine, which became the country’s highest-rated show last year. Its upcoming original series Kingdom will put zombies in medieval Korea.

In comparison, Oksusu spent just US$10 million last year on content. That will change after the merger, with SK Telecom’s chief executive Park Jung-ho seeking some US$180 million in initial investments to produce new original content.

Netflix may also be a boon to Korean content creators and filmmakers. A programmer for Korean cinema at the Busan International Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals in Asia, said Netflix “helps filmmakers” to expand their options.

“Netflix gives them more freedom to create,” he said, in comparison with traditional film studios. He noted that Korea’s traditional film industry isn’t fond of Netflix, but that it was already an “irreversible movement”.

The service is also benefiting some Korean content producers’ aims to go global. South Korean drama Memories of the Alhambra is hoping to draw an international audience by airing each episode on Netflix an hour after its original broadcast on local network tvN.

While South Korean content creators welcome Netflix’s approach, local broadcasting corporations have been less friendly. Part of its business model is to partner with local companies to deliver their content abroad. But Netflix was met with cold shoulders when it tried this in South Korea, as brands like SK Telecom and entertainment company CJ E&M turned down requests for a partnership, attempting to shut the US tech firm out of the market.

This tactic is not uncommon for Korean companies looking to rebuff foreign firms who want to do business in Korea. “[Korean search engine] Naver was successful in keeping Google from dominating the Korean market by making their content unsearchable by Google crawlers,” said Lim from Yonsei University.

But Korean firms have big plans for their new video platform, and may be looking to mimic the US streaming giant’s approach abroad.

SK Telecom CEO Park called the upcoming service “the Netflix of Asia”, and announced plans to expand into the growing Southeast Asian market.

The new South Korean platform will take a leaf out of Netflix’s book and turn its focus to producing original content that can be sold abroad. A source at MBC who asked not to be named said the new platform is hoping to produce “two-thirds of the Korean content [that has] enough commercial appeal to travel abroad”.

The Southeast Asian market is already well populated with streaming services. But the new platform will be banking on the success of original Korean content in Southeast Asia, where K-dramas and films are especially popular – with many of the top shows on platforms like ViuTV and iflix coming from South Korea.

The minds behind the merger are expecting K-dramas and films to be “must-have content for any serious video service platforms in Asia,” said the source at MBC.

Some analysts believe Korean dramas are well loved by Southeast Asian audiences because of a mix of high production values and cultural similarities, allowing them to fill a space that Western content has failed to.

The new Korean streaming service will also be using its partnerships with the likes of Viu and collaborating with brands “like Hooq and telecom giants like SingTel for distribution”, said the MBC source. KBS refused to comment, calling their expansion plans a “confidential business matter”.

Local search giant Naver, the maker of Japan’s popular Line messaging app, is also making a push into Southeast Asia with a service that could compete with Instagram and YouTube. It recently released V Live, a live-streaming app that allows Korean celebrities to broadcast video and chat with fans around the world. The app recently hit 6.5 million monthly average users in Vietnam, riding the recent global success of K-pop groups such as BTS and EXO.

The battle for streaming supremacy in Asia is heating up, and Netflix is not likely to back down. The company is experimenting with lower prices to lure Southeast Asian audiences, offering a mobile-only streaming service in Malaysia starting at US$4 per month.

The real winners of all this will be Asian audiences, who are about to see an influx of great new content and a potential pricing war making it cheaper than ever. ■