SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent commitment to nurture the local motion picture industry comes after a TV series by tvN, Guardia: The Lonely and Great God (also referred to as “Goblin”), became a major hit on Taiwanese television.

During a luncheon meeting on Tuesday, President Tsai emphasized the importance of the local film industry as a medium to promote the Taiwanese way of life and cultural values, and pledged government support for related businesses.

“(Taiwan’s motion picture industry) is losing competitiveness when compared with Korea, China, and Japan,” she said. “It has a structural failure, that is the lack of production capital.”

According to Taiwanese news agency United Daily News, the 16-episode Korean drama topped the list of most watched TV series on iQiyi, a major Chinese online video platform, during the Lunar New Year holiday.

In fact, Korean series nabbed the top eight spots on the list, based on viewership on iQiyi from January 26 to February 1. Goblin was followed by The Legend of the Blue Sea, Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim, Saimdang, Light’s Diary, Voice, Doctor Crush, Descendants of the Sun, and Missing 9.

The paper also reported that Korean dramas allowed iQiyi traffic to record 27 million views, with a 40-percent increase in subscribers during the holiday season.

As for Goblin’s unprecedented success in Taiwan, EBC news, another Taiwanese outlet, pointed to the highly-acclaimed performance by the cast, a well-written script, and bold financing in production, and went on to criticize the substandard environment of Taiwan’s motion picture industry.

In line with the president’s new-found ambition, the Taiwanese government has decided to invest 6 billion Taiwanese dollars ($193 million) into the local industry, while at the same time establishing a department in charge of film financing at its Ministry of Culture. The government will also consider instituting a separate agency responsible for promoting Taiwanese cultural content.

By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)