Jang Geun Seok ("A.N.Jell: You're Beautiful", "Beethoven Virus") recently shared his views on micro-dramas.

Micro-dramas, or "short-form dramas", are series with each episode lasting about two minutes. They are usually shot in a vertical format, which is why in Russian they are often called "vertikalki" (vertical videos).

Recently, such dramas have become one of the main trends in the content market.

Jang Geun Seok, despite his youth (38 years old), belongs to the older generation of actors. He debuted – hard to imagine – in 1993 as a child actor. Throughout his professional career, he has witnessed first-hand the shift from global broadcast networks and stationary television sets to mobile devices, and from substantial multi-episode dramas that sometimes ran for years to a completely diversified product independent of central broadcasters.

In 2026, Jang Geun Seok became a member of the jury for the ENA show "Director's Arena". This is a new and quite unusual format for Korea: the country's first "survival show for directors" dedicated to short dramas. The show's premiere will take place on May 15, 2026.

Alongside Jang Geun Seok, the jury includes director Lee Byung Hun, actor Cha Tae Hyun, and female comedian Jang Do Yeon.

Jang Geun Seok confessed, "I now watch short-form series to the point of becoming addicted." The actor considers short dramas a very promising genre.

He added, "A good work must be charming. I will watch and evaluate the works of short-form series directors, imagining that I am spending time lying in bed and reflecting on the day that has passed."

The motto of the show "Director's Arena" is: "If you do not capture viewers' attention within two minutes, there will be no next round."

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The jury's behaviour is as close as possible to that of an ordinary user. If a drama fails to engage, viewing stops, and the contestant is eliminated.

The works that reach the final will be adapted and placed on the Rejin Snack platform ("레진스낵"). This platform for diverse content, mainly vertical micro-dramas, was launched in February 2026 and covers South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

Due to the low cost of production and the accessibility of production to virtually anyone who wants to try, the micro-drama market is growing at such a rapid pace that there is not even any strictly kept statistics yet.

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We know that China is currently the absolute leader in this production. And they even have statistics. According to data published by the National Radio and Television Administration, 33,000 works in the "micro-drama" format were released in 2025.

China is gradually forming an ecosystem for consuming such content. There are major video platforms: Douyin, Kuaishou, and WeChat Video Accounts from Tencent. They are the main "content factories", where micro-dramas are distributed organically and go viral. There are also specialised applications: Red Fruit (Hongguo), DramaBox, ReelShort, and ShortMax, which promote the vertical format and have millions of active users.

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South Korea is currently experiencing growth in the number of platforms and infrastructure for releasing micro-dramas. According to data from January 2025, there are already 89 such platforms in South Korea, while in 2024 there were only 21. The market is at an initial but very active stage of development.

Among the platforms are TopReels, Vigloo, and TVING Short Original. It remains unknown how many micro-dramas Korea released in 2025, but it is absolutely inferior to China, and it is unlikely to be even a thousand dramas.

We know that TopReels launched 130 drama titles in July 2025, Vigloo has a library of 300+ dramas, and TVING Short Original launched a line of 4 series last year.

The Japanese market is also on the rise, but there is as yet no statistics on the amount of short content being released. As in Korea, the main indicator of growth is platform activity. Leading applications such as TopShort report millions of downloads and huge popularity in Japan. Major media companies, including Avex, are also launching their own short drama services operating on a paid subscription model. There are also platforms such as BUMP, POPCORN, Teller Drama, and FOD SHORT.

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