[MUSAI] Three Questions about Professional Voice Actor Pool in Korean Market

2020-03-05

Korean voice actor pool seems like a quite interesting topic for our clients. Many questions about the professional voice actors in Korean market have been asked frequently. Of course, there are some specific differences compared to the US and EU market such as recruitment system, official regulation and payment system, etc. Therefore, Musai picked out three of the most frequently asked questions and answered with simple explanations.

1. How does it work the recruitment system of voice actors in Korea?

Major broadcasting stations including KBS, MBC and EBS, and major cable channels like Daewon, CJ E&M, Daekyo, CBS, etc. conduct their own recruitment procedure every year to select voice actors. It is highly competitive and painful not only because of the difficulty of the test, but also because the number of applicants is substantial. 

The new voice actors who passed the whole steps until the final have a contract with the broadcasting station and have to work as an exclusive voice actor for two or three years. After the completion of the contract, they are registered with Korea Voice Performance Associations (http://kvpa.co.kr/), then they can work as a freelancer.

2. I would like to know the list of the voice actor unions in Korea (e.g. SAG*AFTRA in US) and the price policy with them.

Only one union in Korea exists, which is ‘Korea Voice Performance Association’ as I mentioned above. Unfortunately, there is no guideline for rate and buyout fee by the union because most of voice actors are working as a freelancer after they are registered with KVPA. That means each voice actor has a different base rate depends on their experience and level of acting, and even the condition of buyout fee.

3. How to cast the professional voice actors in Korea? Can I contact them in person?

Yes, it’s possible. There are few global game publishers who have own audio team or localization staffs contact them directly and do the casting process by themselves. In this case, it’s important to have human resources in your audio team who have professional eyes for casting and deep understanding about Korean voice actors.

For the case of the companies without the audio team, they work with experienced professional recording studios located in Korea who know Korean voice actors and the system well.

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