KS Learning is a South Korean startup that offers AI-powered online performing arts classes. Founded by Lee Eun-ji in Oct. 2021, the company leverages a curriculum linked with KS Training Center, a specialized education firm for aspiring actors.
Lee, who graduated from Hanyang University, previously worked in corporate PR before transitioning to a role at an acting academy. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic sparked her decision to start the company, driven by a desire to meet the needs of people eager to learn acting despite the challenges of in-person instruction.
“Because of the pandemic, in-person classes became challenging, which led us to explore online lessons,” Lee explained. “At the time, there were no other companies offering online acting classes,” she added.
Lee highlighted that many foreign students who had come to Korea to study acting, only to return to their home countries, had requested online lessons. These students, from countries like China and Singapore, now access acting classes remotely, taught by professionals affiliated with the acting academy.
A 2022 survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), found that in 2021, Hallyu (the influence of South Korean culture) content accounted for an average of 27.4% of the cultural content consumed by international fans.
This marked a 5.9 percentage point increase from the previous year. The survey also highlighted that beauty products were the most popular category, making up 31.7% of the consumption, followed closely by dramas at 31% and fashion at 29.2%.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a significant increase in the consumption of Korean content, particularly in video content categories such as dramas (53.5%), films (51.8%), and variety shows (51.5%).
The S. Korean government views this trend as the result of the prolonged pandemic, which has led to the widespread adoption of remote content consumption and contributed to the global success of K-dramas such as ‘Squid Game.’
Lee noted, “As the demand for content continues to grow, more countries are looking to adopt Korea’s entertainment systems. This global trend in the consumption of Hallyu content has led to a significant increase in proposals from countries like Japan and Vietnam to establish local branches of KS Training Center.”
According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the S. Korean content market grew from $100.3 billion in 2021 to $108.4 billion in 2022, with broadcasting and film accounting for about 20% of the market.
The export of K-content also saw a significant rise, increasing from approximately $12.4 billion in 2021 to $13.3 billion in 2022.
Additionally, KS Learning was selected this year for the Early-Stage Startup Support Program, managed by CNT Tech. This initiative is designed to assist startups that are less than three years old, providing up to 100 million won ($73,283.96) in funding to help commercialize their products or services.
Under the guidance and support from CNT Tech’s incubation and mentoring program, KS Learning is currently developing a Learning Management System (LMS) platform. This platform will leverage AI algorithms to automatically match students with instructors based on their skill levels.
“We’re in the process of developing the LMS system,” Lee explained. “For now, we manually connect students with instructors for one-on-one online lessons, but we plan to develop a system where AI will automatically handle the matching, integrating the academy’s curriculum to offer a diverse range of educational content.”
Lee further explained that by analyzing the basic information of aspiring entertainers and matching them with suitable instructors, they aim to provide the optimal learning experience, addressing the challenges of online education.
KS Learning plans to expand its business model by linking the LMS system with additional academies across Korea, before eventually venturing into the global market, targeting Japan, Vietnam, China, and ultimately Europe.
