Jihun
Lee

Jihun Lee sitting by a cafe window

welcome to my site

Korea & APAC Market Entry · Data-Driven Strategy

UC Berkeley Statistics  ·  ex-Warner Music  ·  Seoul

↓
Artists and platforms whose data I analyzed

Bruno Mars·Ed Sheeran·Christopher·Charlie Puth·FIFTY FIFTY

YouTube · Spotify · TikTok · Instagram · Luminate · Melon · Genie · FLO · VIBE · Circle Chart

My story

From Reading Data to Opening Markets

Global companies entering Korea and the wider APAC region usually have two gaps: local customers are hard to read from abroad, and headquarters cannot see what is happening on the ground. I have spent my career closing both gaps with data.

Chapter 1 · Berkeley, until 2015

A Berkeley statistician with a Korean home base

I graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Statistics. It gave me a habit I still rely on: before recommending anything, I check what the data actually says. Studying in the US also showed me how global teams think, present and make decisions, while my Korean roots help me understand how customers here think. That mix lets me explain Asian markets to headquarters, and headquarters to Asian teams.

Hypothesis testingRegression & correlationTime-series forecasting
Jihun Lee in graduation gown under Sather Gate at UC Berkeley Doe Library reading room at UC Berkeley
Chapter 2 · Seoul, 2016–2021

Learning to read people through data

Back in Seoul I used data to understand people in very different settings. At a startup I scraped the web and tracked brand mentions to understand customers. At a training school I taught Korean office workers sales analysis and time-series forecasting. At Seoul National University Hospital I built SAS and SQL monitoring and worked with EU and Japanese research partners, my first cross-border project.

Data skills, as they were added
2016Web scraping, social listening, customer research
2020Sales forecasting with time-series models
2020–21SAS / SQL at scale, cross-border research with EU & Japan
2022–24Python automation, Tableau, BigQuery / Snowflake, market reporting
Chapter 3 · Warner Music Korea, 2022–2024

The Asia-facing desk of a global company

As Manager (Korea), Business Insights & Analytics, I was where global met local. Global artists such as Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Christopher and Charlie Puth needed a Korean go-to-market plan, and I built it from local platform and social data. K-pop was moving the other way, so I also mapped where Korean music was consumed abroad, from the US to Southeast Asia and Latin America.

My reports went to regional teams and shaped investment, release timing and promotion. In practice this was market entry work, repeated every release. I also reviewed settlement statements and contract terms with Korean platforms, the local partners every global label depends on.

Warner Music Korea office lounge and stage in Seoul
Warner Music Korea, Seoul
Chapter 4 · Next

Helping global companies win in Korea and across APAC

I now want to do this work directly for companies entering the market: as a Korea / APAC Country or Market Entry Manager, or as an advisor. My promise is simple. You get a clear read of the market, the numbers to prove it, and a plan headquarters can approve.

See my playbook ↓
Portrait of Jihun Lee

My APAC Market Entry Playbook

Five steps I use to take a product into Korea and the wider APAC market. Each one is powered by data, and each one is backed by a real project below.

01

Validate

Investment & Partnership Review

Is the growth behind this deal real and lasting?

Investment Review OutputsDurability check
Peer benchmarks
Investment scenarios

Key caseBillboard artist: invest or pass? →

02

Grow

Revenue & Profitability Diagnosis

Where should we focus to grow revenue?

Growth Analysis OutputsMarket reaction tracking
Growth drivers
Timing triggers

Key caseWeekly UGC read & weather →

03

Localize

Korea Market Entry & Growth

Who do we sell to in Korea, and through which channels?

Market Entry OutputsCompetitor map
Channel priorities
Market test plan

Key caseReading the Korean market →

04

Reconcile

Settlement & Contract Review

Do partner statements match usage? What if terms change?

Settlement Review OutputsStatement reconciliation
Gap analysis
Contract scenarios

Key caseStatements & contract options →

05

Report

Reporting Automation

Can HQ see the market every week?

Reporting OutputsAutomated pipeline
KPI dashboard
Weekly routine

Key caseWeekly report, automated →

Case Studies

Billboard Hot 100 Act: Investable or One-Hit Wonder?
FIFTY FIFTY · investment eligibility · 2023
Playbook 01 · Validate · Investment Review Followers per stream showed whether a viral hit had a lasting fandom behind it. Read the case →
Social Buzz × Weather
Weekly UGC read · ~23K tracks
Playbook 02 · Grow · Market Reaction Weekly UGC reads for marketing, and a catalog-wide test of songs that rise when it rains. Read the case →
Reading the Korean Market
Share · subscribers
Playbook 03 · Localize · Korea Market Market sizing, subscriber tracking and label share: the groundwork for every Korean launch. Read the case →
Reading the Fine Print
Platform statements · contract options
Playbook 04 · Reconcile · Statements Platform statements checked against usage, and contract options compared side by side. Read the case →
Weekly Top 300 Report, Automated
Melon · Genie · FLO · YouTube
Playbook 05 · Report · HQ Intelligence A Python pipeline that turned a 90-minute weekly report into a 5-minute one. Read the case →

Playbook 01 · Validate

Investment Eligibility Research on a Billboard Hot 100 Act:
Is FIFTY FIFTY a Breakout or a One-Hit Wonder?

The starting point

In spring 2023, FIFTY FIFTY's "Cupid" had just entered the Billboard Hot 100, and competitors were ready to bet big. The question: a lasting act, or a one-hit wonder? Streams alone could not answer it. People can love a song and barely notice who sings it.

Two shapes I found in the data (illustration)
Lasting artistFollowers "cover the top" of streams
One-hit wonderStreams overwhelm followers
StreamsFollowers

Schematic of the patterns seen for Charlie Puth, GOT7 and Taylor Swift (left) versus GAYLE, Shaun and Pháo (right).

Finding the patterns

I compared follower curves against streaming curves for proven artists. Lasting acts keep followers above streams. One-hit wonders show a streaming peak that followers never catch. I turned this into one number: followers gained per global stream, across YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.

Followers gained per global stream · spring 2023 (approx.)
NewJeans~1.7
FIFTY FIFTY~0.3
Top-3 YouTube videosFIFTY FIFTYNewJeans
Views~27M~220M
Engagement rate~4.9%~1.5%
Follower share from TikTok~40%~30%

Engagement = (likes + comments) ÷ views, early April 2023.

What the numbers said

NewJeans gained about five times more followers per stream. Most top "Cupid" TikToks used the song as background audio, not to introduce the group. The bright spot: FIFTY FIFTY's YouTube engagement was three times NewJeans', a sign of a small but real core fandom.

Jihun Lee with the members of FIFTY FIFTY
With FIFTY FIFTY

My recommendation

Momentum was real, but fandom lagged far behind streams. I flagged one-hit-wonder risk and advised caution before matching competitors' large bids.

For a company entering APACHype in APAC moves fast. The same check (is there loyal demand behind the buzz?) applies to picking local partners, influencers and acquisition targets.

Playbook 02 · Grow

Reading Market Reaction Every Week:
From Social Buzz to the Forecast

UGCYouTube · Instagram · TikTok
→
Market reactionwhat fans post, use and share
→
Marketing teamweekly read and next moves

The starting point

Every week I summarized how the market reacted on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok and shared it with marketing. One question from those reads: do some songs rise when it rains? I tested it across the entire catalog.

Correlation of daily streams with rainfall · domestic, Feb–Sep 2022
새벽공방 · Sun Shower (여우비)
0.72
럼블피쉬 · 비와 당신
0.68
공기남 · 비를 내려줘요
0.66
공기남 · 오늘, 비
0.64
류태열 · 비가 내려오네
0.58

Pearson r. The same songs move opposite to sunshine hours (r ≈ −0.53) and solar radiation (r ≈ −0.62).

How I did it

I joined daily streams with Korea Meteorological Administration data (rainfall, temperature, sunshine and more) and correlated every track: ~17K domestic and ~6K international.

Most songs ignore the weather. Only about a dozen cross r > 0.5 with rainfall, a shortlist sharp enough to act on.

Outcome

A short, evidence-based list of rain songs, and a clear signal for when to push them.

For a company entering APACEvery market has its own signals: social buzz, weather, seasons, platform habits. I track the ones that move your product and time the launch to them.

Playbook 03 · Localize

Reading the Korean Market

The groundwork behind every Korean launch plan I built for global artists.

In-Flight Music Market Sizing
Korean Air · Asiana

Is a new B2B channel worth entering?

Estimated monthly licensing revenue across Korean Air (~160 aircraft) and Asiana (~80), using fleet data, Warner's average share across five platforms and the domestic/international repertoire split.

fee per aircraft × fleet × market share × settlement rate
Monthly Subscription Tracker
Korean streaming market

Subscribers & share, every month

Tracked Korean streaming subscribers and label share by platform with year-over-year change, giving the team a monthly read on market size and share.

Pop vs K-pop Label Share
Circle Chart Top 200 · 2023

Market share from chart data

Converted ~10K rows of 2023 Circle Chart Top 200 into estimated sales and compared major-label share separately for pop and K-pop repertoire.

Playbook 04 · Reconcile

Reading the Fine Print:
Platform Statements and Contract Options

Korean platforms pay labels through monthly statements. I checked two things: do they match actual usage, and what would new terms change?

Usageplays · streams · users
×
Shareof platform revenue
×
Ratedomestic · international
=
Expectedcompared with the statement
01 · Checking statements
2009 → ~4,700 lines

Rebuilt track by track, month by month, into a documented claim.

02 · Comparing contract options
3 contract options

Real service data modeled under each proposed term, side by side.

Figures are approximate, recalled from memory and rounded.

For a company entering APACLocal partners report through their own statements and terms. I make those numbers readable for HQ.

Playbook 05 · Report

Market Intelligence for HQ:
The Weekly Market Report, From 90 Minutes to 5

The problem

Every week the team needed to know how Warner's catalog moved on each Korean platform. Merging Melon, Genie, FLO and YouTube charts by hand took about 1.5 hours.

What I built

A Python pipeline that pulls each chart, splits domestic and international repertoire, computes week-over-week change, and flags the movers.

1.5 hr5 min

For a company entering APACHQ needs a reliable weekly read of markets it cannot see. I build that reporting once, automate it, and keep it in English.

Sample output · Melon, international · one week in autumn 2023
TrackThis wkLast wkΔ
Charlie Puth · I Don't Think That I Like~880K~970K−9%
Charlie Puth · Dangerously~810K~890K−10%
Zac Efron, Zendaya · Rewrite The Stars~690K~310K+121%
Charlie Puth · That's Hilarious~550K~650K−16%

The same weekly data also fed seasonal work, such as an R script that pulls holiday and winter songs from the Melon Top 500 by ISRC.

Experience

Jun 2022 – Sep 2024

Manager (Korea), Business Insights & Analytics

Warner Music Korea · Seoul, Korea
  • Managed weekly and monthly consumer behavior reporting using UGC data from YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, tracking market trends to support commercial decisions.
  • Analyzed product consumption across Korean and global markets and built structured insight tables that made marketing campaigns more efficient.
  • Shaped Korea market entry and growth strategy for global artists (Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Christopher, Charlie Puth) based on local consumption data, and partnered with key influencers to drive regional growth.
  • Presented market and consumer insights to regional teams, informing investment priorities, release timing, and promotional strategy.
  • Identified weather-sensitive products by analyzing the link between weather patterns and consumption, helping the marketing team optimize recommendation lists and timing.
  • Built a Python tool that automated weekly reporting, cutting a 1.5-hour task to 5 minutes (~70 hours saved per year).
Oct 2020 – Feb 2021

Data Manager

Seoul National University Hospital · Seoul, Korea
  • Monitored patient data for individuals taking specific medications, supporting clinical safety efforts.
  • Developed and implemented SAS and SQL macros for large-scale data monitoring and analysis.
  • Collaborated on international research with European and Japanese institutions.
  • Conducted research on optimal hospital matching using machine learning and decision tree models.
Jun 2020 – Oct 2020

Data Manager

4th Industrial Revolution School · Seoul, Korea
  • Facilitated sales data analysis training programs for office workers, emphasizing practical skills.
  • Generated sales forecasts using time series analysis to diagnose and enhance sales department strategies.
  • Evaluated prediction accuracy to assess forecasting model performance.
Jun 2016 – Dec 2017

Data Manager

Abroadway · Seoul, Korea
  • Conducted customer research through data-driven methods to uncover insights on consumer behavior.
  • Collected data using web scraping tools and analyzed user data for targeted insights.
  • Monitored brand popularity by counting name mentions on social media platforms.
Education

University of California, Berkeley

Bachelor of Arts in Statistics · May 2015

Market & strategy

Korea & APAC market sizingGo-to-market localizationSettlement & contract reviewInvestment due diligenceHQ stakeholder reporting

Languages & data

SQLPythonRSASBigQuerySnowflake

Analysis

Time-series forecastingMachine learningStatistical analysisKPI reporting

Communication

TableauExcelPowerPointWord
Entering Korea or APAC? Let's talk.

Open to Korea & APAC Market Entry and Strategy roles, and advisory projects.

jihunlee@berkeley.edu