The CEO of Netflix, which earned 820 billion won (US$859 million) in Korea last year, did not appear at the National Assembly's parliamentary audit this year either. Criticisms are being made that the company is neglecting its responsibilities to the domestic market.
Netflix Service Korea CEO Sean Thomson did not attend the comprehensive audit held by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the 25th.
The National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee had requested that Thomson be a witness to question him mainly about "revenues from the Korean market and reinvestment in the K-content market," but he ended up not attending. Instead, only Netflix Service Korea's Director of Policy and Legal Affairs Jung Gyo-hwa appeared as a witness.
On the 14th, CEO Thomson wrote in a statement explaining his absence, "I am a member of the legal team at Netflix.Inc. (US headquarters) and work in offices outside of Korea, such as the US and Europe." He added, "When Netflix Service Korea was established in July 2015, I was in charge of the practical aspects of the company's establishment and was registered as the company representative. Since the establishment of the Korean corporation, I have not been involved in Korean business."
He continued, "I do not know the specific details of the Korean corporation's operations and the current state of Korean business, so it is difficult for me to testify faithfully."
The National Assembly's Science, Technology, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee requests the Netflix Service Korea CEO to appear as a witness at every parliamentary audit, but he has not attended every time for the same reason.
It has become inevitable to criticize that Netflix's responsibility is neglected compared to its influence on the domestic Korean market. Netflix Service Korea is expected to have sales of 1 trillion won (approximately 10.75 billion yen) last year.
According to Netflix Service Korea's 2023 audit report published in April, sales (resale revenue from subscription memberships) were calculated to be 823.3 billion won, an increase of approximately 50 billion won (5.375 billion yen) compared to 2022.
The increase in sales at that time was mainly due to the popularity of Netflix original content "The Glory: Glorious Revenge" starring Song Hye-kyo. Following the release of season 1 in December 2022, season 2 was released in March 2023, and was a huge hit in Korea, attracting new subscribers.
Despite such huge sales, when Netflix Korea was asked to attend a National Assembly audit to ask about "Korean market revenues and reinvestment in the K-content market," it was unable to avoid criticism this year as it submitted a letter of reason for the representative's non-attendance.
A Netflix Korea source said, "Reginald Sean Thomson is a Netflix employee who was in charge of establishing the Korean corporation, as explained in the written reasons. Currently, unless the corporate structure is changed, the domestic corporation does not have the role of branch manager. Instead, Jeong Gyu-hwa, who is in charge of legal policy, will attend and respond."
2024/10/27 18:00 KST
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