Chris Miller, a professor at Tufts University (author of Chip War), speaks during the 25th session of the World Knowledge Forum Chip War 2.0: Global Battle for Semiconductor Hegemon. Reporter Han Joo-hyung​

The World Knowledge Forum YouTube channel is receiving great response from overseas viewers. 

With the steady upload of lecture videos containing the insights of world scholars, the number of views not only in Korea but also abroad is exploding. The World Knowledge Forum, which marks its 25th anniversary, is evaluated as having built a knowledge ecosystem that anyone can easily access by actively utilizing online platforms in line with the digital age. 

According to the Secretariat of the World Knowledge Forum on the 1st, only 2.5% of viewers in Korea were viewers of the World Knowledge Forums YouTube channel in the fourth quarter of last year. This means that 97.5% of the total viewers came from abroad. The share of overseas viewers increased sharply last year. The share of overseas viewers, which accounted for only 7% of the total until the first quarter of last year, increased to 21.4% in the second quarter and then surged to 90% in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, a whopping 97.5% were overseas viewers. The number of overseas views increased 15 times from 220,000 in the first quarter of last year to 3.32 million in the fourth quarter. 

Analysts say that the rapid increase in overseas viewers is due to the fact that the World Knowledge Forum YouTube channel has consistently provided various and fresh English contents. The Secretariat of the World Knowledge Forum uploads videos related to key sessions of the World Knowledge Forum to YouTube channels twice a week. 

In particular, from 2020, it is actively using online platforms, such as live broadcasts of opening ceremonies and open sessions on YouTube and Twitter. As of the 30th of last month, 1,150 videos were uploaded to the World Knowledge Forum channel. 

Since October last year, when the contents of the 25th World Knowledge Forum began to be uploaded, the number of overseas viewers has increased sharply. According to the monthly distribution of viewers last year, the share of overseas viewers, which was 40.6% of the total until September, jumped to 69.9% in October and 97.9% in November. 

When looking at the distribution of viewers by country, the number of viewers in the United States has increased significantly. The country that watched the World Knowledge Forums YouTube content the most in the fourth quarter of last year was the United States, accounting for 29.8% of the total number of views. It was followed by high ratings in Anglo-American countries such as India (9.9%), Canada (6.3%), Australia (5.2%), and the UK (4.2%). The share of viewers in the U.S. increased more than 10 times from 2.7% until the first quarter of last year. In the background of the rapid increase in the proportion of viewers in the Anglo-American world, content containing knowledge such as Altoran of American scholars is located. A large number of contents dealing with topics that deserve attention were uploaded from global economic and technology centers such as Silicon Valley and Wall Street, drawing attention. 

A case in point is the Chip War 2.0: Global Battle for Semiconductor Hegemon session. The session was attended by Professor Chris Miller of Tufts University, author of the global bestseller "Chip War" and an expert in the semiconductor industry, to analyze the importance of semiconductor technology in the global economy and geopolitical hegemony. The video resonated greatly with viewers and recorded 300,000 cumulative views. 

The separation of Korean and English channels last year is also considered to have had a positive effect on the influx of overseas viewers. Previously, Korean and English videos were provided on one channel at the same time, but Korean videos have been provided on separate channels since April last year. Accordingly, it is interpreted that the contents of each channel are delivered more efficiently to the core audience. Thanks to the separate operation of Korean channels, the number of viewers in Korea remains stable despite the increasing number of overseas viewers. 

Among the contents of the World Knowledge Forum, the most viewed video is a lecture by Abhijit Banerjee, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who attended in 2023. The lecture video contains Professor Banerjees insights into the future of inequality and has accumulated 655,000 views so far. Overseas viewers responded by saying, "I am grateful for the World Knowledge Forum channel for sending out such rich lectures from Insight." In addition to YouTube, the World Knowledge Forum posts session videos on various online platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn. In addition to the session video, the Secretariat of the World Knowledge Forum plans to produce additional interview videos of key speakers to present a variety of content.  

The World Knowledge Forum YouTube channel

[Reporter SHIN HWA] ​