South Korea first elbowed its way on to the international formats scene in 2008, when that year’s BCWW conference in Seoul was suddenly all about selling scripted and reality IP, after years of being dominated by animation and ready-made K-drama.

“It’s certainly a good thing to have such access to a major market like China for amplifying K-formats to the international market,” says Amanda Groom, CEO of UK-based Korea specialist The Bridge, likening it to the impact having access to the US market has had on UK format sales.