Format specialist Jin Woo Hwang, President & Executive Producer of Something Special, the Seoul-based international Format agency, was elected and named as the new Chairman of the prestigious non-profit Korean Format Alliance (KFA) in December 2021, following the tenure of Il Joong Kim (Director of SBS Global production/SVP of SBS FormatEast).

In his role as Chairman of the KFA, Hwang will carry out the org’s mission to promote Korean format development; protect Korean format rights in global markets and reinforce international cooperation of Korean formats. Hwang will lead the way to strengthen competitiveness of Korean formats and share main news, trends, and insights of domestic and foreign format industries among both its member companies and with the industry at large.

The organization, founded in 2016 and supported by the Korean government agency KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency), is comprised of major terrestrial and cable broadcast and production companies such as: KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS, CJ ENM, JTBC, Channel A, TV Chosun, MBN, Tcast, IHQ, CEN Media, diTurn, IMTV, and Something Special.

Hwang, along with his business partner, InSoon Kim, launched Something Special in 2019- Korea’s first format agency with a roster of top Korean producers and partners such as creators of the original format hits: I Can See Your Voice, Masked Singer, and Running Man. 

Hwang’s own portfolio includes Head of Formats & Content Development at CJ ENM Media Content Division as well as Former Head of Global Content Development at CJ ENM Media Solution Division. This year he exec produced the popular mystery game show Still Alive on IHQ. Some of his production and development credits include Better Late Than Never, I Can See Your Voice, Love at First Song”, Let’s Go Time-Travelers, Golden Tambourine, Korea’s Got Talent, Popstar to Operastar Korea, Top Gear Korea, Who Wants to be a millionaire Korea. Hwang also received the Korean Prime Minister citation for his dedication to his service as an industry pioneer on Korean content in 2018, and he is a FRAPA Advisory Board Member.

Jin Woo Hwang stated, “I am honored to lead the Korean Format Alliance as the organization’s new Chairman and feel a major responsibility with the new role especially when the country’s industry is at its most achieving moment. Acting as a diplomat for the Korean format business for many years, I will continue doing my best to take the industry to the next level. KFA will protect, promote, and respect the international format industry, ensuring that Korean creativity is both well-known and respected around the world.”