South Korean lawmaker sees digital finance aiding K-content investment reforms

South Korean lawmakers and industry participants are exploring whether digital assets can help fix longstanding financing and revenue-sharing problems in the K-content sector. At the Digital Finance and K-Content Innovation Seminar at the FKI Tower in Yeouido on July 24, Lee Jae-jung, chair of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, said K-content has emerged as a future growth industry even as workers in the field are still not being properly compensated. She said digital finance could offer part of the solution, while cautioning that it is not a complete answer on its own, and added that the National Assembly would continue discussions on an institutional framework. Director Yang Woo-suk, known for films including “The Attorney” and “Steel Rain,” said South Korea’s video content market has effectively collapsed as the industry shifted from theatrical release models to OTT platforms including Netflix and as advertising moved to platforms such as YouTube. He said legacy investment and distribution structures have broken down, while financing models for newer formats such as short-form video have yet to emerge. Yang argued that tokenization of real-world assets could help revive the sector by allowing intellectual property and revenue rights tied to films, dramas, webtoons and games to be issued as blockchain-based tokens, potentially broadening access for global investors. In a keynote speech, Park Chang-beom, a director at Korea Digital Asset Valuation and Certification, also said the industry continues to struggle with production financing and the distribution of intellectual property revenue, and that stablecoins and tokenization of real-world assets could improve transparency by linking industry participants and investors more directly. The event was hosted by Korea Digital Asset Valuation and Certification.