SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s short drama market is undergoing a rapid transformation as artificial intelligence moves from an experimental tool to a full-scale production engine, slashing costs and widening the boundaries of what can be created.
At the center of the shift is Vigloo, operated by Spoon Labs, which will release a slate of AI-driven short dramas in 2025, including "My Savior from Hell" and "Seoul: 2053."
The projects were developed with AI integrated into every stage of the pipeline — from concept and script development to visual effects and post-production — cutting location and VFX costs by more than 90 percent and reducing overall production time by half.
"My Savior from Hell", a romantic drama centered on a contract relationship with a chaebol heir, uses image-to-video technology optimized for vertical formats, an increasingly dominant mode for mobile-first viewers. "Seoul: 2053", a dystopian sci-fi collaboration with Johnny Bros, deployed AI to render traditionally resource-intensive elements such as humanoids and sandstorms.
The project allowed Vigloo to refine its AI production-support model, proving that cinematic world-building can be reimagined within the constraints of short-form storytelling.
Beyond production, Vigloo is applying AI across translation, dubbing, content classification, and personalized recommendations, aiming to fuse production, distribution, and marketing into a single streamlined workflow — a model that could redefine how short dramas are monetized and localized for global audiences.
Other players are moving quickly.
EOContents Group, known for hits like "My Perfect Secretary", is producing two AI-driven series, "Soon, It’s Night" and "Soon, It’s Work," using AI-generated humans capable of natural emotional expression. The company plans to release 127 episodes across its “Soon” franchise, betting that AI-guided performance and efficient micro-production cycles will accelerate global exports.
Westworld Story is also experimenting at scale. Through a project supported by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the company produced short-form dramas such as "Single Hell" and "The Uninvited Guest at My Wedding", using AI to craft unconventional narrative elements that would have been costly or complex to film manually. These projects have already initiated discussions for global co-productions, highlighting how AI is helping Korean creators pitch more ambitious storytelling to international partners.
The remaining challenge is cultural, not technological. K-dramas have built their global audience on emotional specificity — subtle eye movements, pauses, and tonal shifts that convey a uniquely Korean style of intimacy and tension.
As AI-generated short dramas expand into romance, sci-fi, thriller, and hybrid genres, the industry is watching closely to see whether technology can enhance narrative richness without flattening the emotional depth that defines K-content.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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