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Disney+ was first announced at the D23 Expo in 2019. (EPA/Yonhap News)

This year has seen competition heating up like never before on the South Korean streaming service market.

The battle has intensified between Netflix — which has grown so large in South Korea that its annual subscription fees now surpass the license fees for the KBS network — and rival domestic streaming services like Tving, Wavve, and Watcha.

Both Tving and Wavve have invested huge sums to make dozens of original shows, including “Girls’ High School Mystery Class,” “Transit Love,” “You Raise Me Up,” and the unedited version of “The Veil.”

Amazon Prime Video, which had been providing services in South Korea to little effect, introduced itself to viewers through its exclusive rights to the animated film “Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time.”

Coupang, which has been diligently following the Amazon model in other areas, launched a streaming service with Coupang Play and its first original content with its reboot of “Saturday Night Live Korea.” Apple TV+ launched its South Korean services on Nov. 5 with the unveiling of its first original South Korean series “Dr. Brain.”

With this competition raging, Disney+ has finally arrived in South Korea. Seen as the only rival likely to put up a fairly equal match with streaming giant Netflix, Disney+ began offering its services in South Korea on Nov. 12.

Quite a lot of people were counting down to its arrival — from the many fans of the Marvel cinematic universe to parents looking for animated content they can show their children, as well as South Korea’s few but intensely loyal “Star Wars” buffs. Since before Disney+ showed up, all of them had heard the rave reviews across the Pacific about its original series, including “The Mandalorian,” “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and “Loki.”

Is this a positive development? It’s too early to say.

From the standpoint of TV viewers, having more things to watch and enjoy is obviously nothing to complain about. Streaming services have allowed them to view content that would have been beyond the capabilities of existing terrestrial networks, general programming channels, and cable channels to produce — things like “Kingdom,” “D.P.” and “Squid Game.”

It also has its positive side for people working in the entertainment industry. With more streaming services competing to come up with original content, industry professionals have more opportunities to make their break.

Content makers who once had a limited number of networks to turn to now have the option of talking to many different streaming services too. That translates into a higher likelihood their work will actually be produced and presented to viewers, while also creating additional employment.

But the proliferation of subscription-based services also raises the likelihood of significant inequalities in media consumption.

The reason TV has often been seen as the most “popular” form of media is because everyone gains access to the same amount of information with the payment of a relatively low license fee. A KBS license fee of just 2,500 won per month would give South Koreans access to five total networks, including two KBS channels, MBC, SBS, and EBS.

But then cable TV arrived, followed by IPTV, satellite channels, and general programming channels. Even so, it was possible to keep up. The cable, IPTV, and satellite channels were all more or less the same, and viewers who subscribed to just one of the services had little trouble catching up with the most talked-about content.

But now South Koreans have begun purchasing a Netflix subscription to watch “Squid Game,” a Tving subscription to view “Transit Love,” a Wavve subscription to see “You Raise Me Up,” and a Disney+ subscription to enjoy “WandaVision.”

Even if the individual monthly subscription rates aren’t that much, if viewers hope to catch up on all the series that people are talking about, the expenditures add up fast. Even supposing that multiple people can use the same ID, the concern is that there will be disparities in media access depending on a person’s economic standing.

Especially for adolescent media consumers — who could end up ostracized for not sharing in the same experiences as their peers — the mere fact that they have to use another person’s ID to access services could make them targets for mockery.

Industry professionals also face risks. One danger was shown with the success of “Squid Game”: even when a series is a huge hit, the distribution of profits is rarely fair. But another danger lies in the fact that streaming service content production represents an entirely new form of working environment.

In the past, movie and television workers have repeatedly gone through a persistent process of struggle and bargaining with industry management to win guarantees on standard working contracts and safety rules for their respective production environments. But streaming services bring with them a new market with new management.

When a new market opens up, there’s inevitably less regulation in the early stages. In markets like that, the people with money have a greater voice. It becomes more difficult for film workers to apply the same kinds of standard contracts they had with the film industry, or for TV workers to operate under the same agreements they’ve demanded from the networks.

In the US, the overheated streaming service competition has recently led to a growing sense among production companies that they’re better off getting their content out quickly, even if it leaves them paying penalties. In response, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees launched a general strike last October. The safety of workers in the industry is being severely imperiled.

It’s something of a buzzkill to talk about the threats of content consumer inequality or the safety of industry workers when we’re faced with such a wealth of new and interesting content. But if we don’t recognize and prepare early on for the risks attendant on new forms of entertainment, it may already be too late by the time those risks start turning into keenly felt realities.

The arrival of Disney+ will only fuel further competition, and even more streaming services are also expected to hit South Korean shores, including WarnerMedia’s service HBO Max. It may be necessary for us to take another look at the market rules today — before that market starts getting further out of hand.

By Lee Seung-han, TV columnist

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]