South Korea posted a deficit of $6.44 billion (about 8.89 trillion won) in knowledge services trade in the first half of this year, the second-largest half-year shortfall on record. Despite the popularity of Korean content, the gap widened as payments for artificial intelligence services such as ChatGPT and overseas streaming platforms increased.
The first-half knowledge services deficit came to $6.44 billion, according to the "2026 First-Half Knowledge Services Trade Statistics" released by the Bank of Korea on the 17th. That is wider than the deficits of $4.8 billion in the first half of last year and $5.44 billion in the second half. It also marks the second-largest half-year deficit on record, after the $7 billion shortfall in the second half of 2010.
The knowledge services trade balance covers four areas: intellectual property royalties, information and communications services, cultural and recreational services, and professional and business services.
Among them, intellectual property royalties recorded a deficit of $4.9 billion, $900 million wider than the $4 billion deficit in the second half of last year.
In detail, royalties for "multimedia" content, which include subscription fees for overseas streaming services such as Netflix, swung to a deficit of $40 million from a surplus of $290 million. The deficit in royalties for "computer and mobile software," which include fees for artificial intelligence services, widened to $2.84 billion from $2.31 billion over the same period. That was the largest deficit on record for computer and mobile software royalties.
By contrast, the surplus in cultural and recreational services grew to $720 million from $530 million. The surplus in performance and exhibition services, which reflects revenue from K-pop concerts, rose to $330 million from $240 million. The surplus in multimedia production services, including dramas made for overseas streaming platforms, also increased to $380 million from $290 million.
