Korean, Vietnamese content industry leaders forge deeper ties
At the Korea-Vietnam Cultural Industry Cooperation Roundtable held in Seoul on Monday, Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young noted that "now is the time to elevate bilateral cultural exchanges to the next level.'
Chae outlined Korea's blueprint for cultural industry growth, which includes expanded policy financing, tax incentives, and research and development in cultural technology, alongside an AI-driven innovation strategy spanning content creation, production and distribution.
Vietnam's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung expressed his country's willingness to 'actively learn from Korea's advanced cultural industry' and hoped the two nations would 'share more valuable experiences based on mutual trust and cultural commonalities.'
The roundtable also brought together the two countries' leading content companies. From Korea, executives from HYBE, Krafton and Carriesoft presented success cases in music, gaming and animation, respectively, while BHD CEO Ngo Bich Hanh, VAC founder Dinh Ba Thanh and YeaH1 CEO Le Phuong Thao offered insights into industry trends and challenges in Vietnam.
Youth-driven market in Vietnam
For Sohn Ki-won, CEO of Kim Jonghak Production, the company behind many popular Korean shows, Vietnam's demographic profile is a key reason for targeting the market.
'Vietnam is a young country with great growth potential,' she said, noting that the average age is around 33, with 40 percent of the population living in urban areas and a high proportion of content-consuming 20- and 30-somethings.
Sohn pointed to Vietnam's high receptivity to Korean culture — from K-pop to Korean food — and its government's commitment to digital infrastructure development as fertile ground for collaboration. 'Coupled with Korea's own AI industry growth policies, we see the potential for sustainable cultural industry growth through cooperation,' she said.
Kim Jonghak Production is exploring both remake proposals using its existing intellectual property and joint planning of original projects, including casting Vietnamese actors in Korean TV shows and co-producing Vietnamese shows. While there is no fixed release date, Son said romantic comedies and family dramas are genres that resonate strongly with Vietnamese audiences.
Anticipated challenges include cultural and production differences. 'Despite our cultural affinity, there are differences in sentiment, storytelling and social taboos,' Sohn said, adding that language, time zones and decision-making pace could also slow processes.
'We need to address these from the early planning stage and proceed step-by-step.'
From remakes to co-production
BHD Vice President Ngo Bich Hanh highlighted her company's long history of bringing Korean content to Vietnam. In 1997, BHD became the first company to license a Korean show from KBS for broadcast on national TV. Since then, it has distributed numerous Korean films and produced remakes of major titles such as "Descendants of the Sun" and "Good Doctor."
This year marks a shift toward deeper collaboration. BHD, together with Film and TV Asia, has signed a memorandum of understanding to co-produce an original Vietnam-Korea film, set to begin filming in Vietnam in March 2026 with release targeted for the end of that year.
Ngo emphasized the need for institutional support.
'We hope Korea's government organizations will provide more incentives for international co-productions and location filming. Cinema is facing difficulties worldwide, so additional funding and location support will be crucial to staying strong and promoting Vietnamese and Korean culture together," she said.
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