KFTV brings Korean broadcasting to Europe

By Alice Hong

The Korean proverb, "A good start is half the journey,” emphasizes the importance of getting started on a task. Christophe Diez, co-founder of KFTV, considers it his personal motto.

KFTV, which stands for Korean French Television, is a French streaming platform that promotes Korean culture to the European market through TV shows, movies and documentaries. Diez and his team are currently based in Pangyo Techno Valley, a startup hub in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where KFTV is being developed with support from the Korean government.

Diez came to Korea in 2015 to work as a producer for a French Korean TV series, and despite being new to the culture, he quickly fell in love with the country and its cultural content. Though it was nothing like the type of entertainment he’d seen in France, he saw its potential, which led to him founding his own startup.

Little was known at the time about "hallyu," or the Korean wave, in Europe, where Korea was still regarded mostly as a developing nation that had overcome the 1950-53 Korean War. Hallyu was an underground trend French banks were not willing to back financially, so Diez said he turned to crowdfunding for initial capital.

The language barrier also posed an obstacle for Diez, whose knowledge of Korean is minimal. It was his unwavering belief in hallyu and a determination to reach his goal that got KFTV up and running.

“When I launched KFTV, I had a vision: to create a platform to promote hallyu in France and Europe — an idea that came to me in 2016," he told The Korea Times. "Thanks to a dedicated team, committed partners and talented collaborators, this idea became a reality on March 1, 2020.”

By 2023, KFTV had signed broadcasting contracts with SBS, CJ and MBC to deliver authentic Korean broadcasting content on its platform. In 2024, KFTV also signed a deal with Toonimotion to make animated content based on K-webtoons accessible in Europe.

“We can thank Netflix, of course, for popularizing K-dramas. But I believe that before Netflix, there were all the TV channels like SBS that contributed enormously to the creation and spread of hallyu for a very long time,” Diez said.

By watching content seen and made within Korea, he feels viewers of KFTV can get a more realistic, less curated version of Korea that’s not available on Netflix. The subscription rate for KFTV has increased drastically in the last three years, with the majority of users being women who are active on social media.

As Europe faces an uncertain future and a difficult time of leadership, Diez feels hallyu can offer a positive narrative that can change the perceptions Europeans have of Korea. KFTV plans to expand its viewership to accommodate non-French-speaking parts of Europe as the platform grows.

Last year, KFTV was able to finish as one of the Top 8 startups in the K-Startup Grand Challenge, an accelerator program designated by the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development.

“From audiovisual production to bringing Korean cultural content to Europe, we are building bridges between Korea and the world," he said. "And this is just the beginning — we can't wait to share what’s next!”

Visit kftv.fr for more information.

Alice Hong is a freelance writer and comedian based in Seoul. Follow @hippohong on Instagram.