Category: Entertainment Files

I can see the point of view of local Korean web service providers who’s networks are being strained by high demand from Netflix:

Netflix finds itself in an increasingly difficult position after its global competitors opted to pay network fees in the Korean market through content delivery networks (CDN). 

A CDN is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and associated data centers. Content providers such as media companies pay CDN operators to deliver their content to end users.

The controversy over network fees snowballed in recent weeks, following the overwhelming popularity of Netflix shows such as “Squid Game.” Increased views have resulted in a spike in data traffic, which internet service providers claim is posing a burden to them.

SK Broadband is currently engaged in a lawsuit with Netflix over network fees. Netflix has maintained its stance that it will not pay for using local networks. 

Netflix Vice President of Public Policy Dean Garfield last week reiterated at a press conference in Seoul that the company will use its open connect appliances (OCA) as a means to help alleviate the traffic.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Disney+ is coming to South Korea soon and they are using a popular South Korean show to help launch it:

A spin-off of long-running South Korean television show “Running Man” is among the Korean originals to be released on Disney+ after the service’s launch in the country on Nov. 12, its operator said Thursday.

“Outrun by Running Man,” the first official spin-off of the SBS TV variety show, will star three members of the show’s original cast — Kim Jong-kook, Haha and Jee Seok-jin, the Walt Disney Company said during an Asia-Pacific content showcase of the streaming service. 

But the original show’s main cast member Yoo Jae-suk will not participate in the spin-off series.

“Running Man,” which revolves around emcees and guests competing with each other to complete missions at a landmark in Seoul, has been hugely popular for over a decade in Korea and other Asian countries.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If you are wondering why your Facebook account is down, here is what is currently going on:

Facebook Inc. services experienced widespread outages Monday morning, adding to the social network’s miserable day.

Facebook FB, -4.88% shares dropped as much as 6% to an intraday low of $323, which would be their worst single day decline since a 6.3% fall logged on Oct. 30, 2020. The stock outpaced a 1.5% loss on the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.30%and a 2.3% loss on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index. COMP, -2.14%

The decline followed a national broadcast of a whistleblower’s allegations that the social media network placed profits before safety. Late Sunday, ViacomCBS Inc.’s VIAC, -1.97% news program “60 Minutes” interviewed former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen, who alleges that the social-media giant has been deceiving investors about how it has been dealing with hate speech and misinformation on its platform.

Haugen provided thousands of pages of documents to The Wall Street Journal, which formed the basis of the publication’s The Facebook Files series. Haugen is scheduled to testify before Congress on Tuesday morning and is also seeking whistleblower protection in complaints filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Adding to all of that was a widespread outage of Facebook services, including Instagram and WhatsApp, that started just before noon Eastern time. Even the status dashboard Facebook uses to communicate its availability to developers was not working Monday.

Market Watch

You can read more at the link, but I also read reports that Facebook employees were having a hard time getting into their offices because the security system used to scan cards for access was down as well.

I ended up finishing up watching Squid Game on Netflix and it was pretty good, but the violence in the drama was a bit over the top. This is definitely not a series for kids to watch:

A pop-up replica set of Netflix’s original Korean series “Squid Game,” which was set up at Itaewon Station in central Seoul, closed down earlier than scheduled due to mounting concerns over a spike in COVID-19 infections here.

According to Seoul Metro, the pop-up set, operated by Netflix Korea, closed on Friday after drawing large crowds on the back of the growing popularity of the Korean drama.

The set was scheduled to be open until Sunday. 

“The operator of the set made the decision as concerns over violations of social distancing rules have been raised,” a Seoul Metro official said. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I actually yesterday watched the first episode of this series on Netflix, it is a pretty crazy show with hundreds of people getting killed in the very first episode:

 Netflix’s original Korean series “Squid Game” ranked first on the U.S. top 10 TV show list of the video streaming platform, a chart has showed, becoming the first Korean drama to reach the milestone.

The thriller, featuring South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae, made it to the top on the U.S. chart, as of Tuesday, according to streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol. (………….)

“Squid Game,” released on Sept. 17, is a thriller series about a group of people who risk their lives in a mysterious survival game to secure the prize money of 45.6 billion won (US$38.5 million).

You can read more at the link.

Here is an interesting video from the Korea Times of a Filipina who has appeared in over 60 K-dramas as a weekend gig job:

The producers must have been paid quite a bit to put this Chinese ad into this drama knowing the blow back it might get from viewers:

Producers of the popular Korean TV series “Vincenzo” said Wednesday that they will remove the controversial scene featuring a Chinese product from overseas streaming services amid rising domestic anger over Chinese sponsorship.

In the eighth episode of the dark comedy that aired on March 14 on tvN, an instant Chinese bibimbap brand was exposed while the lead characters Vincenzo (Song Joong-ki) and Cha-young (Jeon Yeo-bin) have a meal.

Bibimbap is a popular Korean dish consisting of a bowl of warm white rice topped with seasoned vegetables and chili pepper paste.

Korean viewers frowned upon the fact that Chinese bibimbap appeared on a Korean drama amid the recent Chinese claims that some elements of Korean culture, including kimchi, originated from China.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.