Overseas piracy of Korean content rises to nearly 494 million reported cases

Reported cases of Korean content illegally distributed overseas reached 493.6 million in 2025, up 19.2% from the previous year, according to data disclosed by lawmaker Jeong Jun-ho on October 12.

The Korea Copyright Protection Agency supplied the figures to the Democratic Party legislator, Yonhap reported. It was the highest total since data collection began in 2022.

Webtoons accounted for 66.5% of cases, while films and broadcasts made up 33.5%. English-language distribution represented 46.6%, followed by Chinese at 20.4% and Southeast Asian languages at 15.7%.

The reported number of deleted illegally distributed items was 243,374, less than 0.1% of detected cases. These are reported distribution cases, rather than a count of unique viewers. Jeong called for more monitoring teams and stronger cooperation with overseas authorities.