The breathtaking scenery of North Korea captured with Korean technology has captivated the world stage, creating a blockbuster success story.
The nature·culture documentary Gaemagowon (official title "Mother's hometown, Gaemagowon"), produced by comprehensive content studio Buttumak Cat (CEO Kim Myung-hwan), has been distributed to more than 40 countries in Europe, North America and the Middle East through U.K. global distributor TVF International, proving the unrivaled strength of K-docs.
The two-part documentary Gaemagowon, which aired as a KBS special for the 70th anniversary of the blackout in 2023, made a big impact by capturing the four seasons of Gaemagowon and Baekdusan in 4K UHD high definition for the first time on television. Using unprecedented directing techniques such as drones, time-lapse and underwater shooting, it completed the international edition North Korea: A Year in the Wilderness aimed at the global market.
Its domestic box office results were also overwhelming. After recording a peak viewership rating of 4.8% when it aired, the follow-up program Newest footage of northern mountains, scheduled as a 2026 Lunar New Year special, also recorded 3.5%, proving its dominant ratings and topicality.
Riding the explosive domestic and international response, it achieved the feat of signing a 10-year exclusive worldwide distribution license contract with TVF International excluding Korea. The large-scale deal, which includes terrestrial, cable, VOD and in-flight screening rights, is reaching viewers in 40 countries around the world.
In particular, the Gaemagowon IP did not stop at simple broadcasting rights but extended to broadcast licensing, Gangwon Provincial Office of Education exhibition content and follow-up productions, generating cumulative sales of more than 860 million won and establishing itself as a successful model case of one-source multi-use (OSMU).
Buttumak Cat is not stopping there and has embarked on production of the world's first project to simultaneously film the entire 1,400 km Baekdu-daegan of the Korean Peninsula from north to south, from Baekdusan's Heaven Lake to Jirisan's Cheonwangbong (scheduled to air in the first half of 2027), and is expected to carry forward its global box office momentum.
Kim Myung-hwan, CEO of Buttumak Cat, said, "In an era where securing proprietary IP determines a producer's survival," adding, "The more than 800 million won in additional revenue generated by Gaemagowon and the love calls from 40 countries are the result of proving the marketability and global competitiveness of Korean documentary IP."
[photo] Buttumak Cat
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