KBS World is a Japanese television channel operated by KBS Japan, a subsidiary of the

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the public broadcasting, national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea. The KBS ope ...

, targeting Koreans in Japan, as well as Japanese audience interested in Korean entertainment. Launched on April 1, 2006, KBS World broadcasts in

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

with Japanese

subtitles Subtitles are texts representing the contents of the audio in a film, television show, opera or other audiovisual media. Subtitles might provide a transcription or translation of spoken dialogue. Although naming conventions can vary, caption ...

most of time. Unlike other KBS World variants rest of the world, it is also available in HD.

History

The channel was first established in Japan as KBS Japan KK in October 2005 under Wang Hyun-chul, who was also KBS' foreign correspondent in Japan between 1998 and 2001. Its offices and broadcasting facilities are based in Akasaka,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Until then, some KBS programs were carried on Korea Now TV. The channel first launched on

SKY PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. SKY PerfecTV! is also a dire ...

channel 791 in March 2006 and then on J:COM cable in October the same year. As of 2006, KBS World aired over 17 hours of programming subtitled in Japanese. In a survey conducted by cable company J:COM in May 2013, the channel was at the top spot among 53 channels. In 2019, the channel had a coverage of five million households.

References

External links

* World Japan Television stations in Japan Japan–South Korea relations Korean-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 2006 {{Japan-tv-station-stub