According to the "2026 First-Half Knowledge Services Trade Statistics" released by the Bank of Korea on Wednesday, the knowledge services deficit came to $6.44 billion in the first half. That is wider than the deficits in the first half of last year ($4.8 billion) and the second half ($5.44 billion). It also marks the second-largest half-year deficit on record, after the second half of 2010 ($7 billion).
The knowledge services trade balance is divided into four categories: intellectual property royalties, information and communication services, culture and leisure services, and professional and business services.
Of these, intellectual property royalties recorded a deficit of $4.9 billion, $900 million wider than in the second half of last year ($4 billion).
In detail, "multimedia" copyrights, which include subscription fees for overseas over-the-top (OTT) streaming services, swung from a $290 million surplus to a $40 million deficit. The deficit in "computer and mobile software" copyrights, which include fees for artificial intelligence (AI) services, widened to $2.84 billion from $2.31 billion over the same period. The computer and mobile software copyright deficit was the largest on record.
By contrast, the culture and leisure services surplus grew to $720 million from $530 million. The surplus in performance and exhibition services, which reflects K-pop concert revenue, rose to $330 million from $240 million. The surplus in multimedia production services, such as dramas for overseas OTT platforms, also rose to $380 million from $290 million.
Park Sung-gon, head of the Bank of Korea's balance of payments team, said, "The intellectual property royalty deficit widened as payments increased for overseas industrial software related to semiconductors and for digital services such as games." He added, "Looking at the trend, steadily rising purchases and subscriptions of online services such as overseas OTT and AI also contributed to the wider deficit." He also stressed, "As K-content continued to draw audiences abroad, exports of culture and leisure services posted record highs for two consecutive half-year periods."
By region, Korea recorded a surplus of $2.62 billion in Asia, while posting deficits of $3.32 billion in North America and $2.25 billion in Europe.
