Dear Gossips,

Last week in Netflix news, it was all headlines about C-suite turmoil with the back-to-back dismissals of chief content officer Bela Bajaria followed by Dan Lin, Netflix’s now former head of film. Over the weekend, Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos was in Seoul, to celebrate ten years of Netflix in Korea, one of the smartest strategic decisions the company has made over the last decade in terms of growth and viewer retention.

According to the data report Netflix released to mark the occasion (via THR):

“Korean programming is now its most-watched non-English-language content category, with more than 80 percent of Netflix members worldwide having watched at least one Korean title. Since the company began tracking its global Top 10 rankings in June 2021, more than 200 Korean titles have appeared on the charts.

The three seasons of Squid Game occupy the top three spots on Netflix’s all-time most-watched non-English television list, while this year’s Korean hit Teach You a Lesson recently joined the ranking at No. 10. Korean productions generated more than 12 billion viewing hours on Netflix between April 2025 and March 2026 — second only to U.S. content by country of origin.”

The anniversary party was organised like a festival, with 10,000 fans invited to experience activations all themed around Netflix’s Korean titles and there was an upfront-style livestream featuring Ted and major Korean stars taking the stage representing some of the most successful Korean series on the platform and highly anticipated shows that will be releasing over the next year, resulting in this class photo:

The placement here is noteworthy, since seniority is so strictly observed in Korean culture and in this case it’s the seniority of success. Lee Jung-jae is very clearly centered, on his own, in the middle of that shot to acknowledge its unprecedented and still undefeated status as the most watched show ever in Netflix history.

Ted Sarandos, of course, as the CEO is in the center frame and just in front of him, Song Hye-kyo, and in front of her, Gong Yoo. I just posted about these two last week - two of Korea’s most enduring actors working together for the first time in Netflix’s upcoming Tantara. For Song Hye-kyo, however, she was already a high-value Netflix star with the massive streaming success of The Glory back in 2023.

Interestingly, this anniversary bonanza is happening at a time when we’re in a bit of a K-drama slump. This event, then, could be a turnaround since it precedes the streaming release of one of the most acclaimed films of the year: Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love which debuts on Netflix on November 6 after winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival a couple of months ago and is currently sitting at a perfect 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Possible Love is Lee Chang-dong’s first feature in eight years, since Burning, an incredible piece of filmmaking that was f-cking robbed of an Oscar nomination. Netflix is putting some resources behind Possible Love, though, at the very least for a Best International Film nomination… and just this weekend, the star of the film, Jeon Do-yeon, a f-cking legend in Korea, was profiled in The Hollywood Reporter, making the case for a Best Actress nomination. Jeon Do-yeon was previously named Best Actress in Cannes in 2007 for her performance in Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine.

Naturally there was a Kpop Demon Hunters moment during the event. KPDH is Netflix’s most watched original film – which means on the film and the series side, Korean stories have given Netflix its biggest successes. Saja Boy Ahn Hyo-seop, the voice of Jinu, came through with the fan service, LOL.

Hyo-seop’s new drama, Final Table, just premiered the other day, and it’s been a slow start. Will be interesting to see if it picks up over the next few weeks.

And then there’s Byeon Woo-seok, one of the new stars at the party who was greeted with screaming and thirst – and virality. He plays Sung Jinwoo in the live action adaptation of Solo Leveling, a huge priority for Netflix. Solo Leveling is Crunchyroll’s most-watched animé, it has an enormous following. Netflix is hoping to tap into at least some of that audience. Production started on the series, expected to be seven episodes, in May so they’re likely hoping for a release in 2027 at some point and it’ll be interesting to see if they can deliver on the hype. Woo-seok’s aura though… I mean there’s no doubt why he was cast.

You know what I kept wondering though? If we’re talking about beloved Korean titles on Netflix… CRASH LANDING ON YOU, hello? If Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin had shown up it would have been a meltdown but right now he’s probably closer aligned with Disney because of his series Made in Korea as everybody else is now following Netflix’s lead in East Asia.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Photo credits: Netflix

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