Mipcom Online+ to honour Korea

The Palais des Festivals in Cannes

South Korea has been named as the Mipcom 2020 Country of Honour for the digital version of the annual event.

Organiser Reed Midem confirmed the country as its latest Country of Honour on the same day it cancelled the physical version of the market and conference in Cannes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Korea will become the first Country of Honour to be showcased on the new Mipcom Online+ platform, making its content accessible to television professionals around the globe.

The showcase is sponsored by Korea Communications Commission (KCC), responsible for policies within Korean broadcasting and communications services.

With some 19.5 million TV households and 30.8 million pay TV subscribers, Korea is the most connected country in the world in relation to download speeds and streaming content. High smartphone adoption and low-cost subscription services mean watching content on mobile devices is widespread, and more and more is being created for consumption this way.

Korea’s exports of cultural content increased by 8.4% in 2018 from the previous year, to US$9.55bn, according to recent government figures.

Korean producers have had a string of recent international hits, led by MBC’s The Masked Singer, which launched on Fox in 2019, and The Good Doctor, ABC’s adaptation of a Korean drama from KBS.

Previous Countries of Honour and Country Focuses at both MipTV and Mipcom include France, China, Russia, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), Mexico, Israel and Argentina.