Netflix owes much of its global success to its Korean market and content. The streaming giant has a huge following in South Korea. And it is because of Korean shows like ‘Squid Game’, ‘All Of Us Are Dead’ and ‘Hellbound’, that the platform continues to increase its viewer base all over the world.
But the Korean actors do not seem to be satisfied with the company and they feel like they are being underpaid. And the platform has not responded to the appeals of the Actors’ Union as well. Netflix has not paid Korean actors their residuals. Song Chang-gon, actor and the president of the Korea Broadcasting Actors Union, tried to reach out to the Netflix office in South Korea but in vain. He called the officials and left messages but to no avail. Song has said, “One of their first priorities when entering the local market should be to establish some channel of communication with groups like us. But there’s no answer at all.”
Netflix has profited much with Korean content and now it’s time that they pay the cast and crew what they deserve. The Union complains that Netflix underpays supporting actors and makes huge profits from that, and the concern is all the same for writers and production workers as well. Netflix has refused to go through any negotiation, and in a written statement, the company has said that it has followed all rules and regulations and it does not need to pay any residuals.
The company had announced a few days back that it will invest 2.5 Billion dollars to the Korean slate in the next few years. It will be better to pay the actors and satisfy them than taking on project after project and leave everybody dissatisfied.