Korean media companies are pushing a regional and global agenda. And they appear to be on muchstronger ground than international channel brands trying for a foothold in the newly liberalised Korean market.

One of the bigger questions at this year’s Busan Contents Market (BCM) in May was: Who gets to air drama of the moment, Shin Saimdang. By now we all know the series has gone to SBS, but the elevated chatter continues. Why?

For one, because the production budget is so high – about US$650,000 an episode or a total of US$15.6 million for the 24 episodes. In addition, the new series stars actress Lee Young-ae (Jewel in the Palace), who returns to TV drama for the first time for this show after more than a decade.

Also, Chinese buyers are said to have committed US$250,000 an episode, which is allaying fears that China’s new censorship rules have put paid to anything above US$100,000 an episode for Korean content. The commitments are higher than usual elsewhere in the region. Driven by new digital terrestrial (DTT) players, the number said to be on the table out of Thailand is about double the usual fetched for Korean drama.

Shin Saimdang production company, Group Eight, is said to be hopping between negotiating rooms, tying up pre-sale and co-production deals that will, hopefully, put the epic period drama on as many screens around the world as did landmark Korean wave series Jewel in the Palace.

Shin Saimdang is based on the life of Chosun Dynasty artist and writer, Shin Saimdang (1504-1551), one of the most respected women in Korean history and the mother of Confucian scholar Yulgok Yi Yi. The story moves between past and present, tracing the efforts of a modern-day scholar to uncover secrets of the past after finding Shin’s diaries. The series will air in 2016.

The high excitement over Shin Saimdong runs alongside increased energy around Korean formats, including SBS’s Running Man and MBC’s Infinite Challenge, both of which are being made in China. Running Manmarked a turning point in China for SBS, which now divides its mainland business into “before Running Man” (straight licensing) and “after Running Man” (co-production). New deals for Korean formats also include JTBC’s variety/talent show, Hidden Singer, which NBCUniversal has sold to Thailand’s Channel 3. In some quarters, there are also increased levels of foreign format acquisitions. U.K. distributor all3media, for instance, has sold two titles – Gogglebox and Sexy Beasts – into Korea in the past six months.

Korean drama, including output deals with day-and-date subtitled releases, are a healthy contributor to the rising might of Asian regional channels, including Sony Pictures Television Networks’ One (with SBS) and Turner Broadcasting’s Oh!K (with MBC).

Media group CJ E&M, which operates 18 linear channels and produces about 3,000 hours of content a year, also continues to push an ambitious global expansion strategy along with initiatives such as digital-first original production. “Global expansion is a critical agenda for us,” says DJ Lee, CJ E&M’s Media Content Bureau president.

The international slate includes the format co-productions Grandpas Over Flowers and Sisters Over Flowers with China’s Dragon TV. Last year, CJ E&M sold format rights to Grandpas Over Flowers to U.S. network, NBC, which is producing it as Better Late Than Never. “For the past five or seven years we bought formats from international companies. Now we are selling our formats to them. That’s progress,” DJ Lee says. In Vietnam, CJ E&M partnered with national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) on prime-time drama Forever Young, which doubled the average rating for the slot. “That’s unique,” he adds.

DJ Lee’s vision is, first, to create Asian content that is distinctive, fun, empathetic, creative, original and, perhaps most of all, different from Korea’s big three terrestrial stations.

A poster series for the approach is scripted drama Let’s Eat, which has leveraged the CJ conglomerate’s food connections into 21 branded lunch boxes and a vibrant licensing/merchandising revenue stream. “In order to make the commerce connection, the content has to be good and it has to be marketed and promoted really well,” DJ Lee says.

His end goal is to create the number one Asian content creation and marketing business, not just a TV production company. “Global is our hope and dream... but first, we want to achieve this in Asia,” he says.

For regional channel brands angling for a piece of Korea, the going is somewhat tougher, despite the new and less restrictive regulatory environment. “Just because there are no longer ownership restrictions doesn’t mean we can all of a sudden come in and do whatever we want,” says Joon Lee, executive vice president, content and communications, Asia Pacific and Middle East/managing director, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. “We have a lot to catch up on,” he says.