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Angga Anugrah Putra, the general manager of operations and marketing for TikTok in Southeast Asia, speaks to Korean reporters at the TikTok headquarters in Singapore on Aug. 1, 2024. (Park Ji-young/Hankyoreh)

TikTok’s head of content operations for Southeast Asia said that Korean media content dominates the TikTok ecosystem in the region, noting that while countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand all use different languages, “one similarity is they love K-content.”

Angga Anugrah Putra, general manager of TikTok’s content operations in Southeast Asia, sat down with Korean reporters at TikTok’s Singapore office on Aug. 1. Putra has been overseeing work with content creators in Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines since 2021.

Korean content is often taken to mean K-pop, Korean dramas and Korean cinema. But in the context of TikTok, K-content covers Korean cuisine and cosmetics, along with a range of other products.

One notable example has been the spicy Carbonara Buldak noodles, made by Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods, which became a huge success after going viral on TikTok and other social media websites.

Putra noted that 23% of K-content on the TikTok platform — which TikTok defines as all content related to Korea, and not just videos created and uploaded by Koreans — is currently being posted by users in Southeast Asia.

There are also various ways in which TikTok users in Southeast Asia consume K-content. One of the more enthusiastic ways of adopting K-content is “secondary creation,” which includes parodies and remakes of scenes from Korean dramas and movies.

Still from a TikTok by American rapper Cardi B showing her trying out Buldak noodles, a spicy Korean instant noodle. 

The TikTok executive noted that K-content is spawning videos in a host of other categories, mentioning original recreations of scenes from dramas like “Lovely Runner” and “Queen of Tears” and videos overlaid with the “Red Light, Green Light” song from “Squid Game.”

Putra noted that his favorite K-content in recent months has been the drama “Moving” and the variety program “Jinny’s Kitchen” (also called “Seojin’s”).

TikTok has its eye on the potential of the Hallyu market, as indicated by a June 15 white paper titled “Hallyu in the Digital Age: Short Content, Big Impact” that was jointly produced with marketing data and analytics firm Kantar. The white paper projected that the value of the Hallyu market will grow from US$76 billion this year to US$143 billion in 2030. When growth potential is included, TikTok expects the market could be worth as much as US$198 billion.

Putra noted that many content creators work with brands that have chosen famous Korean actors like Park Seo-joon or Song Joong-ki as their ambassadors and said he thinks TikTok should support active creators given K-content’s potential in the Southeast Asian market.

By Park Ji-young, staff reporter

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