Cultural trends are often combinations of the zeitgeist and more rational triggers. Among them is the work and efforts of those who, behind the scene, have directly or indirectly, actively or passively, promoted them.

In the case of Korean dramas, we could say that Korean TV executives may have indirectly made their colleagues aware of the audience’s passion for this type of programming and facilitated their scheduling on TV channels. But when more strategic decisions are made such as launching a new channel dedicated to Korean dramas, the presence of a Korean person may have facilitated the concept to become a reality.

Although the U.S. (Suk Park for DramaFever) and French-speaking Europe (Wook Han for DramaPassion) have examples for VOD, South East Asia has been the most dynamic in that area, with several Korean executives in key decision-making positions at multinational broadcasting corporations.

Among the top executives behind the launch and operation of MTV K, pioneer in promoting Kpop across Asia-Pacific, is Jihee Nam (left). She had been VP Digital Media for the channel since September 2005, and then for all the Viacom International Media Networks Asia since 2009. In May 2014, she was appointed VP & GM to Nickelodeon Networks in Australia and New Zealand – shifting her influence towards teenage and children programming (1) .

Fox International Channels was second in embracing the Korean wave, by rebranding CJ E&M’s tvN Asia to Channel M in late 2012 (2). Behind this move, Joon Lee (right) has certainly been instrumental, in his role of VP Content & Communications for Asia Pacific & Middle East. As the Managing Director for South East Asia since April 2014 (3), he has now full control over the destiny of the network in the region. He validated the idea “Korean and Chinese content seems to work best regionally” and is a big fan of “Korean (entertainment) show Running Man.” (4)

At FIC Asia, there is also Korean-Canadian director of pan-regional marketing & communications, Kelly Jang, who overviewed the re-branding and launch of Channel M in 2012 (5) .

UPDATE (May 2015): Seolmi Shannon Cho, previous director, programming & acquisitions at AXN Korea, and senior manager at CJ E&M (2004-2009), was appointed Director, Acquisitions at FIC Asia, where we hope she can help grow the influence of Korean dramas within the pan-regional network of channels.

Although current SVP & GM of Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia, which operates Korean entertainment channel ONE, Hui Keng Ang, is Singaporean (2) , the senior director for digital media, Sang-im Kim, is Korean. As it is known, the Korean wave is primarily a product of the digital era, and her work at Sony Pictures TV since 2006 may have facilitated the creation of ONE (6) .

Similarly, although current head of Turner International Asia Pacific since January 2014, Ricky Ow, is Singaporean, a key Korean executive is also part of the organization (2) . Indeed, Jin-jung Ah, with the company since April 2004, and currently Associate Sales Director, heads the ad sales for entertainment networks across Asia-Pacific since April 2014 (7) . Those must certainly include Oh!K which launched last month (March 2015) (2) !

Until September 2013, Soo-jung Bhang (right) was head of contents, Asia at Viewster, the growing ad-funded VOD platform – which may have helped Korean dramas to get on there.

Other Korean TV professionals occupy key positions in the industry, although their role does not relate directly to Korean contents. Yet, they may indirectly promoted a certain awareness of Korean productions. On the acquisitions side, Bo Son heads acquisitions for HBO Asia, and Sang-ho Lee (left) heads acquisitions for Thailand’s Mono Group (including Channel M – not to confuse with FIC’s similarly named channel). In Indonesia, Tae-sik Kim is the CEO of PT. Sky LBS TV (8) , a new pay TV platform which launched this month (April 2015) and includes a K-drama channel!

On the sales side, June Choi heads content licensing and distribution for Viacom across Asia, Elaine Oh hotel channel distribution in East Asia for BBC Worldwide and Jeeyoung Lee (right) program sales to North and Southeast Asia for Shine Endemol International. Jeeyoung was actually in charge of program sales, Kpop concerts and and channels distribution for CJ E&M between 2006 and 2011, where she certainly had a critical responsibility in distributing Korean dramas and placing tvN Asia on Asian pay TV platforms.