NETFLIX has dominated the video streaming arena for the past few years. With that success has come expansion into new countries like India, South Africa, and South Korea. But with that expansion, it has become apparent that these new countries have an inferior catalog when compared directly to NETFLIX US.
NETFLIX South Korea is particularly wanting for more content. When compared directly, S.K. has nearly 90% fewer titles than NETFLIX USA. This means NETFLIX subscribers in South Korea have no access to movies like Captain America: Civil War, Kung Fu Panda 3, and The Jungle Book (2016).
Those who are familiar with VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) would know that they could normally be used to circumvent internet borders so that NETFLIX South Korea users could access the US version. But recently, NETFLIX and its CEO Reed Hastings has waged an all-out war on proxy and VPN use. New security measures have been taken to detect repeated IP address abuse, causing many to trigger the NETFLIX Proxy Error.
Hastings has even gone as far as to call those upset at these actions as ‘a very small but quite vocal minority’ but ‘inconsequential’ to his company and its continued expansion. This hard stance is a show of faith to the studios behind the streaming content that want country-specific distribution deals to be upheld as agreed upon.
This comes to the detriment of NETFLIX South Korea users who no longer have access to US titles like Supergirl, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Zootopia. Thankfully, we have a solution!
VPNS NO LONGER WORKED FOR NETFLIX IN KOREA?
That’s true for most VPNs. Popular VPN services like ExpressVPN and HolaVPN have repeatedly been blocked by NETFLIX. But not all VPNs are created equal.
To understand how this can be true, you must first understand what a VPN is.
VPNs use their servers to create an IP address that can be in a country outside your borders. Your ISP is routed through this new IP and rooted away from your home device. This allows for more secure and private browsing for its user. Once established, you can use this connection to browse websites, like NETFLIX US, that may have not otherwise been available within your geographic location. In this case: South Korea.
Now, it bears repeating: NETFLIX has blocked many, many VPN services from accessing its sister sites. But it has not succeeded with all of them.
TorGuard (TorGuard Review), a verifiably reliable and easy to use service continues to provide access to NETFLIX US in 2017 from anywhere in the world, including South Korea. TorGuard provides 24/7 customer service via a live chat and can establish IPs in a variety of countries.
Unlike other VPNs that lump thousands of users onto the same IP address, TorGuard offers dedicated IPs. This allows a way around NETFLIX’s duplicate IP detection. Users of other VPNs, like ExpressVPN, will not be so lucky.
Some VPNs that no longer work with Netflix (tested and verified):
- NordVPN (NordVPN Review)
- ExpressVPN (ExpressVPN Review)
- VPNBaron
- Private Internet Access (Private Internet Access Review)
- IPVanish (IPVanish Review)
- BlackVPN (BlackVPN Review)
- BufferedVPN
- HideMyAss (HideMyAss Review)
- HolaVPN
- GetFlix
Korean Netflix subscribers must be aware that you do NOT NEED to pay for a second NETFLIX account while using the US version. Nor is it necessary to pay for a new ISP.
HOW TO USE VPN TO ACCESS NETFLIX US IN SOUTH KOREA
VPNs are easy to use. TorGuard has a very simple app that can be downloaded to your PC, Mac, or smartphone. Similarly, if your primary NETFLIX usage is through a Roku, XBox, PlayStation, or Amazon Firestick, you can install the VPN directly to your router.
For easy instructions on how to do so, refer to this article here.
Best of all, it is not illegal nor even incriminating to have or use a VPN on any computer or device. As for how you choose to use it, TorGuard encrypts any and all of your actions. This disallows any website or ISP from tracking anything you do. What this means is you’ll never receive a scary email telling you legal action will be taken if you’re caught torrenting Top Gear Korea again.
I’M ALREADY PAYING FOR NETFLIX. CAN I USE A FREE VPN?
You can. But don’t. Just don’t do it.
Free VPNs are a menace to society. They’re slow, unfriendly to users, and are often scams. And if you’re in South Korea, they CANNOT BE USED FOR NETFLIX USA.
For more info, read our dissection of Free VPNs here.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, if you reside in or are visiting South Korea and want to stream the likes of Penny Dreadful, Minions, or Alice Through the Looking Glass, then you HAVE to get on the VPN train. And for that, TorGuard is by far your best option.
