The Korean government said its support for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered local-language dubbing of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) content has attracted a cumulative overseas audience of approximately 100 million viewers in just five months.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Korea Association for ICT Promotion held a general coordination subcommittee meeting of the "Global K-FAST Alliance" the previous day to discuss the achievements of the 2026 AI Dubbing-Specialized K-FAST Expansion Support Project and plans for this year.
The alliance is an open consultative body launched in April last year to enhance the competitiveness of Korean companies in the global FAST service market and strengthen the K-OTT (over-the-top streaming) industry. The AI dubbing-specialized K-FAST expansion support project discussed at the meeting has been underway since last year, reflecting feedback from companies that localizing K-content with local-language dubbing imposes significant cost and time burdens.
Companies participating in the project used AI technology to organically link audio separation, translation, and voice synthesis, automatically isolating and reproducing non-verbal elements including emotional expression. Through this, they established the technical foundation for an "AI dubbing agent" capable of consistently managing overall context.
Based on this foundation, approximately 1,200 K-content titles (over 1,400 hours) have been localized into English, Spanish, and Portuguese to date, completing the buildout of 20 "AI dubbing-specialized K-FAST channels."
These channels have been broadcasting to 22 countries including the United States, Canada, and Mexico since December last year through the K-FAST platforms Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels. As of April this year, five months after launch, cumulative viewership reached approximately 100 million.
This year, the government plans to build four new AI dubbing-based "flagship K-channels" to broaden the global content distribution base. Three consortiums were selected to lead the effort: Hudson AI (channel name: CJ ENM K-DANCE), ESTsoft (GENIE K-Short, TREND ON), and UnAI (K-Vibe+). The government will provide a budget of 230 million won per channel.
The four new channels diversify into genres including vertical dramas, K-beauty, and K-dance. Beyond simply distributing existing content overseas, the initiative will focus on pioneering new territory for K-FAST through innovative approaches, such as expanding FAST originals and up-to-date content and incorporating the latest advertising technologies.
The ministry also said that as alliance membership has grown substantially from 22 companies at launch to 82 companies currently, its operating structure has been reorganized this year into five subcommittees: content and channels, technology, advertising and platforms, global, and general coordination.
"We hope the Global K-FAST Alliance will serve as a springboard for Korea's platform, AI, and content companies to work closely with the government and lead the rapidly growing global FAST market, and MSIT will continue to spare no support in building a sustainable K-FAST ecosystem," said Nam Seok, Director General for Communications Policy at MSIT.
