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“We aim to do more than promote Korean culture; we want to connect people around the world through authentic storytelling.”
Lee Mi-kyung, vice chair of CJ ENM and widely credited with helping globalize K-content, laid out that conviction when discussing the industry’s next steps.
CNN released a new four-part documentary series, K-Everything, worldwide on the 9th. The series traces how K-culture drew on Korea’s traditions and historical experience to build creativity and innovation and, over time, become a global cultural phenomenon.
The documentary identifies CJ’s forward-looking cultural-business strategy as a central engine of K-culture’s growth, giving significant attention to CJ ENM’s role across film, television and music.
The K-Pop episode treats K-pop’s ascent into mainstream global culture not as a fluke but as a carefully engineered industrial achievement. It highlights the infrastructure and range of content CJ ENM developed to transform K-pop from a passing trend into a sustainable global industry.
Viewers see platforms such as KCON and the MAMA Awards, which broadened the intersection between fandom and industry worldwide, and programs like Superstar K, which established systems for finding and nurturing new artists.
The K-Film episode traces a throughline from CJ’s early cultural investments — beginning with a 1995 stake in DreamWorks — to CJ ENM’s central role in today’s global K-content era. The program moves from Joint Security Area (JSA) to films such as Parasite and Extreme Job, underlining that CJ’s long-term investments helped build the industry’s foundation and win international recognition.
The documentary also spotlights CJ Group and Lee’s role as pioneers who helped build K-culture into a sustainable global industry.
In the film, Lee reflected on the DreamWorks investment and quoted her grandfather, Lee Byung-chul: a nation gains true competitiveness when cultural strength combines with industry and economic power. She said that deal taught her the importance of turning intangible creative assets into sustainable businesses and of building infrastructure and a creative ecosystem so artists can continue to tell new stories.
Lee went on to outline her broader vision for K-culture and global storytelling. “It’s not enough simply to promote Korean culture,” she said. “We must connect people around the world through authentic stories.” She added that this conviction has guided her work and that she hopes their journey will offer possibilities and inspiration to others.
Actor and host Daniel Dae Kim called Lee “one of the people who believed Korean culture would one day take center stage globally,” and said she effectively built the industrial ecosystem for exporting Korean culture from the ground up as vice chair of CJ Group.
He noted that CJ consistently provided platforms for promising creators to reach audiences and offered crucial support to aspiring directors — Bong Joon-ho among them — underscoring CJ’s steady investment across K-culture.
The program charts how CJ’s persistent backing translated into global festival success, from Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004, to Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which took home four Academy Awards in 2020.
Lee recalled the moment Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars, saying it made her realize that “our storytelling can resonate with people beyond Asia, around the world.”
The K-Film episode also explores uniquely Korean narratives by highlighting Studio Dragon productions such as Goblin and Mr. Sunshine, and it showcases CGV’s 4DX theaters as an example of how Korea deployed high-tech solutions to enhance the moviegoing experience amid the pandemic and the rapid rise of streaming.
In the K-Beauty episode, the series profiles CJ Olive Young as a leading platform spanning cosmetics, wellness and lifestyle. It notes that K-beauty has grown more than threefold over the past 25 years, positioning Korea as a global trendsetter, and credits the worldwide spread of K-pop and K-dramas as major drivers of that growth.
Over the past 30 years, Lee Mi-kyung has helped globalize Korea’s cultural industries and served as a bridge between East and West. In recognition of her contributions, she has received honors including the Academy Museum Pillar Award (2022), the International Emmy Directorate Award (2022), the Order of Cultural Merit, Gold Crown (2023), the Abu Dhabi Festival Award (2024), the Global Citizen Award (2024), and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2025). As a trustee of the Academy Museum, she continues to support Asian creators reaching the global film stage, and through the global label First Light StoryHouse she works to discover Asia-based content and talent.
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