Oriental Living

Tag: korea

  • K-Dramas Are Booming Abroad, But Production at Home Is Crumbling

    K-Dramas Are Booming Abroad, But Production at Home Is Crumbling

    South Korean television dramas remain a dominant global export, but the industry that makes them is reportedly under serious strain. Twelve South Korean industry groups told the government on Wednesday, Nov 5, that the country’s drama production base risked collapse, according to CNA and the South China Morning Post.

    camera studio set up
    Photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash
    Key facts

    • Twelve South Korean industry groups asked the government on Wednesday, Nov 5, to back K-drama production, warning the production base risked collapse, according to CNA and SCMP.
    • K-drama output has dropped about 30 percent from 141 titles in 2022, per the Korea Drama Production Association.
    • Three domestic broadcast networks cut drama output from 91 titles in 2012 to 32 in 2023, CNA reported.
    • Some broadcast channels have stopped airing weekday dramas entirely, the industry groups said.
    • The Korea Herald reports that crews face precarious contracts, long hours and safety risks tied to a fragmented production system.

    What happened

    The coalition, which includes producers, directors, writers, actors, cinematographers and other crew members, called on authorities to invest in and support K-drama production. CNA reported that the number of titles produced has fallen by about 30 percent from the 141 made in 2022, a figure attributed to the Korea Drama Production Association.

    The decline is also visible at the broadcast level. According to CNA, the country’s three domestic broadcast networks reduced their drama output from 91 titles in 2012 to just 32 in 2023. Some channels have stopped airing weekday dramas altogether, the groups said. Separately, the Korea Herald described an industry where crews routinely face long and demanding shoots, inconsistent pay, and contracts that leave them with little job security.

    Why it matters

    K-dramas have become one of South Korea’s most recognizable cultural exports, helping fuel interest in Korean fashion, food and tourism far beyond Asia. A shrinking production base could mean fewer new shows reaching international streaming platforms over time, even as demand for the genre remains strong abroad.

    The groups linked the downturn to rising production costs, driven partly by competition with well-funded global streaming platforms, according to CNA. They also pointed to broadcasters having less capacity to invest and ongoing difficulties securing intellectual property rights, which affects how shows are financed and distributed.

    Our read: the gap between the genre’s global popularity and its domestic production health suggests that commercial success for individual hit shows is not necessarily translating into stability for the industry that makes them.

    a city with a mountain in the background
    Photo by NK Lee on Unsplash

    Background

    Korean television has built its global reputation on distinctive storytelling and high production values, elements that have helped it stand out in a crowded streaming market. That reputation, however, sits alongside a work culture that the Korea Herald says has struggled to modernize alongside the industry’s rising international profile.

    The Herald’s reporting points to a fragmented production system and a reliance on shooting schedules arranged close to broadcast dates, which it says contributes to grueling hours and safety concerns for crews. These structural issues, long known within the industry, are now surfacing publicly as production numbers decline.

    What to watch

    It remains to be seen how the South Korean government will respond to the industry groups’ request for investment and support. Whether broadcasters and streaming platforms adjust their funding models, and whether intellectual property arrangements become easier for domestic producers to secure, are also factors likely to shape the sector’s near-term trajectory.

    Labor conditions highlighted by the Korea Herald may also draw further attention, particularly if production volume continues to shrink and existing crews are asked to take on more work under similar contract terms. How these two threads — funding and labor — intersect could determine whether the industry stabilizes or contracts further.

    Frequently asked questions

    Why are Korean drama groups warning about a possible collapse?

    Twelve industry groups told the government that production has fallen sharply and asked for investment and support, according to CNA and SCMP, citing rising costs and shrinking broadcaster investment.

    How much has K-drama production declined?

    Output has dropped about 30 percent from 141 titles in 2022, based on figures from the Korea Drama Production Association, while the three main broadcast networks cut their output from 91 titles in 2012 to 32 in 2023.

    What working conditions does the industry face behind the scenes?

    The Korea Herald reports that crews deal with insecure contracts, unfair terms and excessive hours, problems it links to a fragmented production structure and heavy reliance on live shooting schedules.

    Sources

    This article was prepared with AI assistance from the reports listed above and automatically checked against them. See About for how we work.

  • The Fragrant Terraces of Korean Boseong: How Green Tea Fields Shape a Culture of Patience

    Photo by Tab Chang on Unsplash

    At 5:30 in the morning, before the first tour bus rolls in, the pickers of Boseong are already moving through rows of green that vanish into fog. They don’t rush. They never have, not in the decades this valley has grown tea, and that unhurried rhythm is the whole point.

    Origin: Tea cultivation in Korea traces back to Buddhist monastic traditions, but Boseong’s large-scale terraced fields developed in the mid-20th century.

    Region: Boseong County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea

    Era: Traditionally linked to ancient tea drinking, with Boseong’s modern plantations established around the mid-1900s

    Best known for: Daehan Dawon and the surrounding terraced hillsides of green tea

    Core value: Patience, seasonal rhythm, and harmony between labor and landscape

    Harvest season: Spring picking, generally considered the most prized

    Why did Boseong become Korea’s tea heartland?

    Boseong sits in a pocket of southern Korea where sea fog rolls in most mornings and settles over the hills. That moisture, combined with mild temperatures moderated by the nearby coastline, creates conditions tea plants need to thrive slowly rather than quickly.

    Farmers noticed this generations ago, long before anyone called it a tourist destination. The region’s reservoir, Yeomju, also helps regulate humidity, acting almost like a natural climate buffer for the surrounding slopes.

    What started as practical agriculture eventually scaled into the terraced plantations visitors recognize today. The land didn’t change; people simply learned to work with what it already offered.

    How did geography turn into a philosophy of patience?

    Tea plants here aren’t forced. They’re left to absorb fog, cool nights, and gradual sunlight over months before a single leaf gets picked. There’s no shortcut that produces the same flavor.

    This slowness seeped into how local farming families structured their lives. Work is seasonal, repetitive, and dependent on weather no one can control, which means waiting becomes a skill rather than a frustration.

    Older residents in Boseong often describe tea farming not as a job but as a way of measuring time. Each flush of new leaves marks a season passing, not a deadline met.

    Photo by zero take on Unsplash

    What does the tea-picking process teach about time?

    Picking happens by hand, leaf by leaf, during narrow windows when the buds are tender enough. Machines exist, but the finest leaves still come from fingers that know exactly when to stop.

    A picker can spend hours filling a single basket, moving down the same row she worked the year before. There’s no way to speed this up without damaging the quality of what comes next.

    This repetition, done at the same pace across decades, quietly teaches a kind of discipline. You learn to trust a process you can’t accelerate, because rushing only ruins the result.

    How do the terraces shape local life beyond tea?

    Walk through Boseong outside peak tourist hours and the terraces feel less like a attraction and more like a backdrop to ordinary life. Children walk past the fields to school. Farmers check soil moisture before breakfast.

    Local food culture has adapted around the harvest calendar too. Some households serve tea-infused dishes during spring, timed to when the first leaves are ready.

    Even the town’s slower pace, noticeable to anyone arriving from Seoul, seems to echo the fields themselves. Life here doesn’t move against the land’s schedule; it moves with it.

    What can visitors actually experience there today?

    Daehan Dawon remains the most recognized plantation, with pathways that wind between tea rows and tall cedar trees planted as windbreaks decades ago. Walking those paths in early morning fog feels different than walking them at noon.

    Some plantations offer hands-on picking sessions, where visitors try the same leaf-by-leaf method pickers use daily. It’s humbling how long it takes to fill even a small basket.

    Tea houses nearby serve green tea prepared simply, often without much explanation needed. The taste itself, slightly grassy and faintly sweet, tells you most of what the land has been doing all along.

    What’s the simplest way to carry this patience home?

    You don’t need to travel to Boseong to practice what its fields teach. Next time you brew tea, any tea, time it without rushing and actually watch the leaves unfurl instead of scrolling your phone.

    Pay attention to how the color shifts and when the aroma peaks. That small pause, repeated often enough, starts to feel less like a chore and more like the habit Boseong’s farmers have kept for generations.

    A terrace of tea leaves grows only as fast as patience allows, never faster.