Increase in Hallyu Content Exports Leads to First Half Turnaround to Intellectual Property Surplus

Bank of Korea Intellectual Property Trade Balance Announcement
Impact of Increased OTT Video Exports

In the first half of this year, South Korea's intellectual property trade balance turned to a surplus compared to the same period last year. This was influenced by an increase in exports of cultural and artistic copyrights, such as Korean music and video content.

According to the '2024 First Half Intellectual Property Trade Balance (Provisional)' data released by the Bank of Korea on the 25th, South Korea recorded a $140 million surplus in its intellectual property trade balance in the first half of this year. This marks a turnaround from a $190 million deficit in the first half of last year.

The intellectual property trade balance is an indicator calculated by separately compiling the status of international transactions related to intellectual property rights within the current account items. Payments received for intellectual property rights are considered exports, while payments made are considered imports.

South Korea's intellectual property trade balance posted a surplus of $160 million for the first time in 2021, then turned to a deficit of $1.11 billion in 2022, but returned to a surplus of $180 million in 2023.

Looking at the intellectual property trade balance by type in the first half of this year, industrial property rights recorded a deficit of $1.13 billion, but copyrights recorded a surplus of $1.34 billion, resulting in an overall surplus. In the case of copyrights, there was a $1.04 billion surplus in the first half of last year, so the surplus increased by $300 million over one year.

This was influenced by an increase in exports of cultural and artistic copyrights centered on Korean video content. The cultural and artistic copyright trade balance in the first half recorded a $650 million surplus, the second largest half-year surplus following the second half of 2022. Among these, the surplus in music and video content trade balance reached $610 million.

A Bank of Korea official explained, "The increase in video content exports to overseas OTT companies in the first half of this year led to the largest half-year surplus ever recorded in the music and video content trade balance."

Among copyrights, research and development and software copyrights also recorded a $690 million surplus, having a positive impact. The surplus increased by $150 million compared to the same period last year. The database surplus, which reached $1.67 billion, was a major factor, marking the second largest surplus ever recorded.

In the case of industrial property rights, deficits were mainly recorded in patents and utility model rights (-$600 million) and trademarks and franchise rights (-$580 million).

By institution type, large corporations ($3.34 billion) recorded a surplus, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies (-$3.23 billion) recorded deficits. Both domestic SMEs and mid-sized companies (-$390 million) and foreign-invested SMEs and mid-sized companies (-$2.84 billion) showed deficits.

By industry, manufacturing ($1.66 billion) recorded a surplus, while services (-$1.62 billion) recorded a deficit.

Manufacturing showed a surplus centered on electrical and electronic products ($1.23 billion) and automobiles and trailers ($900 million). The service sector showed deficits mainly in information and communication (-$720 million) and wholesale and retail trade (-$470 million).

By trading partner country, deficits were recorded with the United Kingdom (-$1.74 billion) and the United States (-$850 million), while surpluses were recorded with China ($1.25 billion) and Vietnam ($910 million).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.