There’s optimism brewing among South Korea’s animation studios these days in the wake of news that the country’s government plans to invest US$1 billion into this sector of its entertainment industry over the next five years.

Gemma Joo, chief business officer of The Pinkfong Company, tells Kidscreen that this backing has arrived in time to support the K-animation sector’s transition into a more “globally competitive and diverse” ecosystem. “It’s not just about the funding. It also reflects growing excitement and optimism about the future of Korean animation,” she says.

“[This investment] signals a strong belief in the potential of Korean animation, much like the global success we’ve seen with other K-content properties,” adds Hojin Lee, CEO of Studio TNT, the company behind animated kids shows like Hero Circle and Mushymon Days. Lee is hopeful that the cash infusion will help move a lot of projects currently in development into production. ‘One challenge will be ensuring that this support reaches the many talented studios that are rich in creativity, but often lack access to funding,” he emphasizes. ‘Still, it is clear that public support of this scale will energize the domestic investment and distribution landscape.”

While the global appetite for South Korean content often focuses on live-action programming and prestige films, Korean animation is also gaining momentum. For instance, Netflix—which counts on South Korea for its most-watched non-US content—is launching its first-ever original Korean animated feature Lost in Starlight on May 30. 

‘With the right kind of policy execution, we believe this investment can directly support and accelerate our efforts to build a more robust and diversified global IP business portfolio,” says Jay Bae, director and head of global business at SAMG Entertainment. ‘The biggest challenge lies in the structural limitations of the Korean animation market—specifically, the inability to recover production costs through content distribution alone.’

Bae believes that shifting away from the industry’s excessive reliance on preschool animation—which is one aspect of the government-backed plan—is something that could help benefit Korean animation by opening up more opportunities to reach teen and adult audiences.

The broader market is also responding well to Asian animation this year, which has seen breakout theatrical performances from Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha 2 and indie Indonesian film Jumbo. 

The timing of the investment coincides with SAMG’s CG-animated series Catch! Teenieping (pictured) starting to grow as a franchise—it recently spawned a Hyundai partnership, as well as a Heartsping: Teenieping of Love movie that became the second most-successful Korean animated film of all time last year after selling 1.2 million tickets in cinemas. 

Bae also notes that the initiative is offering support for bite-sized content, which happens to be a part of SAMG’s strategy to diversify its catalogue for Catch! Teenieping. “We are actively producing short-form animated content such as K-pop dance challenges featuring our characters, as well as collaborations with K-pop artists and related merchandising initiatives.”

Furthermore, South Korea’s animation investment should help “create a more stable foundation for creative experimentation,” says MOnE Studio CEO Jinyong Kim, who is also looking forward to the global outreach component. “Supporting overseas pavilions, localization and integrated marketing—these measures could empower smaller studios like ours to approach international markets more systematically,” Kim explains. “That said, we believe this policy will be even more impactful if it’s accompanied by long-term IP growth frameworks, stronger production talent pipelines, and practical content creation applications of emerging technologies such as AI.”