South Korea will invest 1 trillion won (US$689.5 million) to help strengthen the competitiveness of homegrown over-the-top (OTT) platforms amid intensifying competition in the global market, the science ministry said Thursday.

The investment will be made as part of the government's broader plan to help domestic OTT platforms, such as Tving and Wavve, expand their business overseas and innovate the industry based on artificial intelligence and digital technologies, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Under the plan, the government will join hands with the private sector to create a strategic fund for Korean content and media businesses.

It will also work to increase the accessibility of Korean content through about 600 million smart televisions from Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Co. sold globally.

The government also plans to innovate the OTT industry by applying AI technologies, such as AI dubbing and AI production, to media content.

It aims to increase the utilization rate of AI technologies by the media industry to 50 percent by 2027 from the 10 percent in 2023.

The Korean OTT industry is pushing to garner 100 million global viewers by 2027, up from 32 million tallied last year, according to the science ministry.

An illustrated image of South Korean over-the-top platforms (Yonhap)

Written by Kim Na-young