"Korea Must Seize the Platform in the AI Era"

Ryu Jeonghye: "Fandom Is the Industry"
Spotlight on Persona AI and the K-Culture Museum

K-content is sweeping the world, but the actual control over distribution remains with Netflix. While Korea has become a powerhouse of creative content, the platform leadership has been lost.

JungHye Ryu, Co-Chair of AI Future Forum.

At the "Content Industry Forum" hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency at the CKL Enterprise Support Center on June 19, Jeonghye Ryu, Co-Chair of the AI Future Forum, emphasized, "The next platform created in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) must be secured by Korea." She argued that AI should not be seen merely as a production tool, but as an operating system that will transform the entire business structure of the cultural industry.

The opportunity she focused on most was persona AI. Character.AI, founded by former Google researchers, was the first to prove its potential. By giving AI various personalities and speech styles, ranging from historical figures to animated characters, they enabled interactive conversations that have drawn global attention.

In Korea, "Zeta," a service where users can create their own AI characters and co-write stories, has ranked number one among entertainment AI apps in Japan. Other services, such as "RofanAI," which allows users to interact with characters from romance fantasy universes, are also available. With Korean IP spanning movies, dramas, webtoons, and animation, Korea holds a more advantageous starting point in this market than any other country.

Methods for connecting IP with AI without provoking fan backlash are also emerging. Eyes Entertainment, in collaboration with DearU, has launched the "AI Pet Bubble" service, where artists' real pets are turned into AI characters that communicate with fans. Ryu stated, "Agencies with large IPs hesitate out of concern for fan resistance, but such indirect approaches offer one solution," adding, "There are plenty of ways to connect with fandom without directly turning artists into AI."

Jung-Hye Ryu, Co-chair of AI Future Forum.

The concept of linking desired fan experiences with AI is expanding to performance platforms. K-pop fans record and upload videos of only their favorite members at concerts using their smartphones. Ryu said, "Korea could be the first to develop a performance platform that uses AI technology to track and show only the member a fan wants to see in real time."

She also proposed converting fan energy into industrial resources. The National Museum of Korea collects ideas for goods from fans and commercializes some of them. This is a structure where fans, not planners, create the products. Ryu commented, "This energy can be applied across K-pop and K-drama as a whole."

For spatial concepts, she mentioned the idea of establishing a "K-Culture Museum" that showcases the histories of K-pop and K-dramas using media art techniques like those of teamLab. Ryu said, "Countries like Abu Dhabi are already making such attempts, yet we don't have one ourselves," and argued, "We should transform existing overseas spaces, such as the Korean Cultural Center in New York, to proactively embrace K-culture."

She further emphasized, "Instead of competing to host the Olympics, we should be able to attract crowds from around the world with our IP—just as an Olympic-sized crowd gathered for BTS's 10th anniversary even without a concert." She stressed that before thinking about expanding overseas, Korea must first recognize itself as already being at the center of global culture.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.