Imaginaries of the Global: Netflix and Disney+ in Korea

Benjamin M. Han. “Imaginaries of the Global: Netflix and Disney+ in Korea.” In East Asian Media Culture in the Age of Digital Platforms: Narratives, Industries, and Audiences, edited by Dal Yong Jin and Kyong Yoon (Routledge, 2025), 30-44.

Abstract: Global streaming platforms, such as Netflix and Disney+, have made significant financial investments in the production of original Korean series. Drawing on the streaming services’ statements circulated in mainstream media and interviews with Korean content creators, this chapter examines how Netflix and Disney+ conceive of the global in original Korean series and how Korean content creators interpret it. In doing so, the chapter argues that while Netflix’s imaginary of the global is centered on the local specificities and characteristics of Korean national culture, Disney+’s conception of the global invokes the West as it aims to westernize Korean content to make it more appealing to the global audience. In analyzing these different imaginaries of the global, the chapter explores how Korean creative laborers make sense of Netflix’s and Disney+s’ understanding of the global, while also illustrating how the tensions between the global and the local play out in their interpretations.