Key Takeaways
Delive will add Vietnam Today, a channel run by Vietnam Television, to its free ad-supported streaming TV service DIVA on October 1.
This is the first time a Korean FAST service has scheduled the channel.
The move appears aimed at Korea's large Vietnamese resident population, which gives the decision both business logic and multicultural meaning.
Starting October 1, viewers on DIVA, Delive's free ad-supported streaming TV service, will be able to watch Vietnam Today, a channel presented in English with news, business, culture, arts, travel, food, and education coverage.
On the surface, it is just one more channel. In practice, it signals a broader shift: a Korean FAST platform is reaching beyond a domestic audience and making room for immigrant communities and viewers interested in Vietnam.
The timing also aligns with one clear market fact. Vietnamese nationals make up the largest share of registered foreign residents in Korea, making this a programming decision with both social and commercial weight.
The first Vietnamese state channel on a Korean FAST service
DIVA is Delive's FAST service, shorthand for free ad-supported streaming television. It lets users watch channels in a TV-like format without paying a subscription fee, which lowers the barrier for casual viewers. The addition of Vietnam Today is therefore more than a simple channel expansion.
Vietnam Today is a national external broadcast channel launched by Vietnam Television, or VTV, in 2025 to introduce Vietnam to audiences around the world. It delivers news, business coverage, culture and arts, travel, food, and education in English. Delive says DIVA is the first Korean FAST service to carry it.
That matters because it shows how quickly a platform can broaden its lineup without building every title from scratch. For an ad-supported service, imported programming can be a fast way to add scale and variety while matching the speed that FAST audiences expect.
A clear bet on multicultural viewers
The programming choice also reflects demographics. According to Korea's Ministry of Justice annual immigration statistics, Vietnamese nationals accounted for 293,907 registered foreign residents in 2025, or 18.3 percent of the total, the largest share among foreign residents in the country.
Delive is plainly targeting that audience. Vietnamese residents in Korea can access familiar content from home, while Korean viewers can see Vietnam through a channel produced from a Vietnamese perspective. In other words, the service is trying to serve both a diaspora audience and a Korean audience that wants more international context.
That is a sensible move in a more diverse media environment. Korean broadcasters and streaming platforms were built largely around a domestic market, but audience composition has changed. Services that only chase mainstream ratings can miss the value of niche but loyal communities.
What this says about FAST competition
FAST succeeds on low cost and immediacy. Viewers do not have to weigh a monthly subscription, and the channel-based experience feels familiar. But that also means differentiation is hard. The pace at which a service fills its lineup can matter as much as the content itself. Delive's move captures that reality well.
The advantages are easy to see. Foreign residents gain access to content in a familiar language and with a familiar outlook, while Korean viewers get an easier path into Vietnamese news and culture. Because Vietnam Today is in English, the channel also lowers language barriers for people beyond the Vietnamese community, including Koreans with international interests.
There are limits, too. Simply adding a state-backed foreign channel does not guarantee audience growth. Viewers still need to find it easily and return to it often. Channel placement, browsing convenience, and actual viewing habits will determine whether the addition becomes meaningful. And while imported channels can fill gaps quickly, they should not become a substitute for developing domestic content strength.
A small experiment with larger implications
The most interesting part of this story is not the channel itself but what its placement suggests. Korean streaming platforms are beginning to treat foreign residents not as a side note but as a market. That does not mean Vietnam Today is only for Vietnamese viewers; rather, it reflects a media environment that is already more multilingual and multicultural than it used to be.
Whether this becomes a one-off gesture or a lasting strategy will matter. Adding a few foreign-language channels is not enough on its own. The real test is whether platforms can use such programming to build an ongoing service for different communities and interests. If DIVA succeeds, it will show that FAST can be more than a low-cost distribution channel. It can become a way to connect communities that Korean television has long overlooked.
