KBS ‘Rounding Up’ & ‘Jungle Fish’ PD Kim Jeong-hwan Shares ‘Survival Strategies for Public Broadcasting in the AI ​​Era’ [Interview]

[Sports Kyunghyang Reporter Kang Joo-il] From 'New Generation Report: Adults Don't Know' and 'Marriage Clinic: Love and War' to the youth drama 'Sharp' and the Peabody Award-winning 'Jungle Fish'... He was always behind the KBS hit shows that graced the small screen in the 1990s and 2000s. Kim Jung-hwan PD (currently a Research Fellow at the KBS Media Research Institute), a variety and drama director who joined the KBS Entertainment Bureau in 1995 and worked as an assistant director on 'Super Sunday,' 'Seo Se-won Show,' 'Gag Concert,' and 'Lee So-ra's Propose,' before discovering Yoo Ah-in, Go Ara, Kim Soo-hyun, and Park Bo-young through works like 'Sharp' and 'Jungle Fish.'

 

He did not settle for being a director. After earning an MBA from USC, he worked in programming, business, and strategy departments, and led the company-wide organizational restructuring of KBS in 2016. After spearheading the KBS WORLD YouTube channel, which boasts 20.3 million subscribers and experiencing the explosive power of a global Hallyu platform, he went on to earn a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Sogang University. We met with him on the 8th at the Kyunghyang Shinmun building in Jeongdong, Seoul, to discuss his 30-year career trajectory and the future of public broadcasting, following the publication of his recent book, *Public Media Strategy in the AI ​​Era*.

 

He, a management science student at KAIST, changed his career path after being captivated by a 20-part documentary titled 'TV Culture Journey' that he happened to see in his dormitory during his third year of college.

 

“When I was in school, I was deeply worried that my major wasn't a good fit. After reading over 100 career-related books at Sinchon Bookstore and agonizing over the decision, I came to the conclusion that I should try becoming a PD. An interest in people grew within me rather than in engineering systems. My curiosity about ‘why people seek meaning and fun’ was greater.”

 

Having worked on popular variety shows, he devoted considerable effort to youth dramas. Although it was a genre neglected in terms of commercial viability and ratings, his pride as a public broadcaster PD was at play. He asserted, “At the time, I insisted that KBS, a public broadcaster, needed at least one proper youth program. Public service and competitiveness do not conflict. Public service thrives only when there is competitiveness, and content competitiveness is maintained only when public service thrives.” The series he produced, *Jungle Fish*, eventually won the Peabody Award.

 

“I felt a sense of accomplishment as a producer. 'Sharp' was recognized by domestic viewers, and 'Jungle Fish' achieved international success, which boosted my confidence. I gained confidence that KBS could also achieve international success. At that time, the work that shared the Peabody Award was HBO’s 'Entourage,' and the writer of the Korean version of this series was Seo Jae-won, who wrote 'Jungle Fish.' Seo Jae-won has since become a famous writer, having penned works such as 'The Guest' and 'Dong Gung.'”

 

He also shared behind-the-scenes stories about the star casting. Regarding Yoo Ah-in, who had no prior acting experience during the time of *Sharp*, he recalled, “When we filmed the first episode where he was the lead, he was so nervous that his hands and lips trembled in front of the camera. I vividly remember him grabbing my neck and crying his eyes out at the wrap party after filming nearly 60 episodes.” About Kim Soo-hyun and Park Bo-young, the stars of *Jungle Fish 1*, he said, “Kim Soo-hyun had such a powerful gaze that I was convinced he would definitely succeed because of those eyes. When I paired him with Park Bo-young, their acting chemistry was perfect.” He also showed a fatherly smile regarding Go Kyung-pyo, saying, “During the audition for *Jungle Fish 2*, he burned his bridges by saying, ‘If I fail this time, I’m really going to immigrate to the U.S.’ Fortunately, things worked out well, so he didn’t end up immigrating.”

 

Why did he turn his attention to business administration when he was on a successful path as a star PD?

 

“I felt that having a few good producers produce a few good works alone could not guarantee sustainable competitiveness. While production is important, I believed that the system surrounding production determines the success or failure of a broadcasting company, so I decided to pursue an MBA. Planning, investment, production, and distribution had to be organically interconnected as a single industrial system.”

 

He chose USC, which is most closely connected to Hollywood, to pursue an MBA while simultaneously completing the 'Business of Entertainment' program at the School of Cinematic Art. He recalled, "I experienced firsthand that the U.S. thoroughly separates local and international markets from the planning stage when designing business models."

 

This vision led to the reorganization of KBS in 2016 upon his return to Korea. He proactively introduced a production (studio) system to the production division, established a Brand Marketing Department, and significantly strengthened programming strategies. This served as a crucial foundation for driving KBS's turnaround to profitability in 2017–2018. During his tenure as Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau, he oversaw the KBS WORLD YouTube channel and spearheaded the K-POP World Festival, witnessing firsthand the power of global platforms.

 

“At the 2022 K-Pop World Festival, a participant from Chile won, and the global enthusiasm for K-Pop is so immense that the winner even met the President of Chile. Consequently, our pride in KBS and our expectations have grown even stronger.”

 

He defined AI, a recent hot topic, as a fundamental turning point for broadcasting. He stated, “If we remain stuck with unidirectional terrestrial radio frequency (RF) technology, competing with global OTT services that leverage interactive Internet Protocol (IP) and algorithmic recommendations will be impossible.”

 

In particular, citing the example of BTS's comeback performance, it pointed out the painful mistakes of public media.

 

It is regrettable that a national cultural event, into which countless police personnel and taxpayer money were invested, was handed over solely to a paid global OTT platform, while terrestrial broadcasters failed to air it. Isn't it the duty of public broadcasters to enable the entire nation, from teenagers to the elderly, to watch broadcasts together and feel a sense of cultural pride and shared identity? Despite possessing overwhelming camera production capabilities comparable to those of the 'Music Bank' production team, this opportunity was missed due to negotiating power with platforms and financial limitations. I believe public media should have actively persuaded them to secure the domestic broadcasting rights.

 

Research Fellow Kim emphasized that the reason for the existence of public broadcasting is becoming even clearer in the era of AI. He stated, “The more AI churns out manipulated information and ‘slop’ (low-quality garbage content), the higher the value of content verified and accounted for by humans becomes. KBS must become a standard of trust that filters out fake news, as well as a ‘data green belt’ that supplies clean data to the tech industry.”

 

He cited "improving corporate culture" and "integrated personnel management" as the top priority tasks for KBS to overcome its crisis and take a leap forward. He emphasized, "No cutting-edge strategy can function with a structure where only half of the 4,000 employees work because the internal structure is divided by factional logic whenever the administration changes. We must reject cronyism and office politics, and restore broken organizational trust by implementing integrated personnel management based strictly on competence and expertise. Just as one must replace not only the engine but the entire set of parts to break the sound barrier, we must completely change everything from our mission statement to the multi-platform studio system and corporate culture."

 

https://m.entertain.naver.com/home/article/144/0001136959