South Korea’s global cultural clout is no longer in question. This year alone, the world has seen a string of hits of K-pop bands ━ such as BTS and Blackpink ━ around the world, the Korean cinema ━ such as ‘Minari’ and ‘Parasite’━snatch global awards, and large domination of Koreans in the game industry. By spreading awareness of and appreciation for South Korean culture ━ including a vast range of offerings, starting with television dramas, video games, and pop music but now increasingly branching into movies, books, and even sports ━ have played a role in improving the country’s international standing.

Now, the South Korean government wants to get actively involved in helping convert the country’s powerful culture and resources into true soft power. South Korean creative industries are being cultivated by governmental support to augment the country’s soft power.

Established in May 2009, the Korea Creative Content Agency (hereafter, KOCCA), a South Korean governmental agency that is in charge of governing cultural content, oversees and coordinates the promotion of the Korean content industry. The KOCCA has supported the development of new technologies for next-generation contents, which includes the production of VR, AR and other next-generation content, R&D in Culture Technology (CT), the development of new broadcast formats, the cultivation of content talents, customized support for creative works, research in content policy, and industry analysis. It also has been working with Korean startups to expand Korean content to the globe through the incubation of start-up businesses, and investment and financing programs for small content firms.

To activate business conversation between domestic and international companies, the KOCCA is operating eight global business centers over seven countries as a front base for entering the global content market. WelCon, a content marketing platform, also has been launched to provide a secure platform for domestic and global parties to build long-lasting business partnerships. Involved parties can access information on exports and events related to the KOCCA and its nurturing companies. The services also include consulting and diagnostics of export capabilities. After signing up, members can place themselves on the global market by taking advantage of opportunities to participate in global events and connect with companies from all over the world.

Here below are three promising companies which participated in the support program in the KOCCA.

Neosapience Inc. introduces artificial intelligence voice assistants

Why are enterprises adopting voice assistants? Since the pandemic, enterprises were looking for hands-free solutions, and voice assistants can serve this need effectively. Voice assistants are not only a boon for individual users but also for business firms. Voice assistants can unburden the employees by taking up repetitive tasks and customer interaction, and enable them to focus on high-priority tasks. According to a global survey by OpusResearch, the global voice assistant market is expected to reach a market value of USD 7,302.4 million by 2025 at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 24.32%.

The enterprises can use a wide variety of already available voice assistants or create their brand to enable personalized marketing, deliver consumer insights, enhance user experience, augment the human workforce, and more.

Neosapience Inc. developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based text content to audio and video conversion platform. It launched a speech synthesis technology, called Typecast, that generates natural sounding voices with different accents, with the help of advanced AI algorithms.

More than 500 thousand people have experienced the AI voice service. It is simple to use. Just copy and paste the text or script that you want on the platform. Then you can choose your favorite voice from the list after previewing sample voices. To make your contents more sophisticated, you can add detailed variation of the audio by customizing ━ adding emotional tone, controlling speed, and tuning tone and style. It also learns the voice features of a certain person and mimics their voice identity and emotions.

When it is finalized, just download it and use it freely in any contents ━ narration, podcast, announcement, animation, advertising and so on! Using this service would generate an excellent customer experience. This customized voice assistant will enhance efficiency by serving specific needs.

Dream Factory Studio dreaming of further leading contents provider

Korea Global Media Group (KGMG) announced that it will launch Korea TV, a hallyu satellite broadcast, to spread Korean cultural contents throughout the Middle East and North Africa this coming soon. Korea is now receiving frequent awards for works and actors at famous global film festivals. In addition, singers (BTS, BLACK PINK) and ordinary actors also play a leading role in Netflix and Hollywood movies. This shows that Korean cultural and digital contents are showing considerable influence. So I would like to introduce one Korean production company.

Dream Factory Studios is a remarkable company that produces video and animated characters. Animation character (zellygo) was signed by Alibaba and launched seasons 1 and 2 on the Chinese biggest video platform (YouKu). In view of these moves, Dream Factory Studio is expected to attain more achievements soon. As you know, it seems to have a more creative approach to scale than large U.S. production companies, and it seems to be enough to promote Korea with cultural content.

Enjoy education and game contents produced by Idea Sam.

Everyone already knows that Korea is a powerhouse in IT. It is also one of the most enthusiastic Asian countries in terms of education. So I would like to introduce a company called ‘Idea Sam’, which develops education and game content. In Korea, Sam is a buzzword to call a teacher for short. It’s a very interesting company name and seems to be trying to approach global content in Korea. iOS, and Android-based web development are seen as a company that specializes in developing and supplying educational applications in particular.

As a professional app development company, it has introduced language learning apps, game apps, ju-jitsu competition management platforms and digital learning textbooks with expertise. It can be seen that it’s a development company with diversity and expertise. The company is trying to go to work autonomously so that it can develop more creatively and  approach consumers or the audience in a pleasant company life. The game service named ‘Secret Cat Forest’ has been launched in 19 countries and you also can enjoy it in the US.

Kayla Hong

Asia Journal