When a Korean Drama Holds on a Label, a Seven Percent Ceiling Is Counting

The Scene

A character in a Korean drama sets a branded coffee cup on the table, and the camera stays on the label a beat longer than the scene needs. How long that label may stay on screen, and how large it may be, are fixed by two separate numbers that sit in a Korean presidential decree rather than in the production budget.

What the Rule Actually Says

The chain runs from a statute to a decree, and the split is the point. The statute names the category and hands every number downward. The Broadcasting Act (방송법), in force on 21 April 2026 as Act No. 21572, lists the permitted kinds of broadcast advertising in Article 73(2) and puts indirect advertising seventh and last on that list.

제73조(방송광고등) ② 방송광고의 종류는 다음 각 호와 같고, 방송광고의 허용범위ㆍ시간ㆍ횟수 또는 방법 등에 관하여 필요한 사항은 대통령령으로 정한다.
7. 간접광고 : 방송프로그램 안에서 상품, 상표, 회사나 서비스의 명칭이나 로고 등을 노출시키는 형태의 광고

In English: the kinds of broadcast advertising are as follows, and matters necessary for the permitted scope, time, frequency or method of broadcast advertising are prescribed by Presidential Decree; item 7, indirect advertising, is advertising in the form of exposing the name or logo of a product, trademark, company or service inside a broadcast programme.

Notice what Article 73(2) does not contain. There is no percentage in it, no screen fraction, and no figure of any kind attached to product placement. The sentence defines the category and sends the measurement one level down. Anyone quoting a number and attributing it to the Broadcasting Act has attributed it to the wrong instrument.

The numbers live in 방송법 시행령, the Enforcement Decree of the Broadcasting Act, in force on 26 May 2026 as Presidential Decree No. 36355. Article 59-3(3) carries the time ceiling, and it carries a proviso inside its own parentheses.

제59조의3(간접광고) ③ 간접광고의 시간(법 제73조제2항제7호에 따른 간접광고로 상품, 상표, 회사나 서비스의 명칭이나 로고 등이 노출되는 시간을 말한다. 다만, 제작상 불가피한 노출로서 자연스럽게 상품, 상표, 회사나 서비스의 명칭이나 로고 등이 노출되는 시간은 제외한다)은 해당 방송프로그램 시간의 100분의 7 이하로 한다.

In English: the time of indirect advertising, meaning the time during which the name or logo of a product, trademark, company or service is exposed as indirect advertising under Article 73(2)7 of the Act, provided that time during which such a name or logo is exposed naturally as an unavoidable matter of production is excluded, shall be not more than 7/100 of the running time of the broadcast programme concerned.

The parenthetical is load-bearing, and it is easy to lose in a summary. It narrows the clock rather than raising the ceiling. Exposure that a production could not avoid, and that reads as natural rather than staged, sits outside the count entirely. Two productions can therefore hold identical footage of the same logo and land on different totals, depending on which exposures fall inside the definition.

The size ceiling sits in the next paragraph, and it too ends with a proviso.

④ 간접광고의 방법은 다음 각 호의 기준에 따른다.
1. 간접광고의 크기(간접광고로 노출되는 상표, 로고 등 상품을 알 수 있는 표시의 크기를 말한다)는 화면의 4분의 1을 초과하지 아니할 것. 다만, 이동멀티미디어방송의 경우에는 화면의 3분의 1을 초과할 수 없다.

In English: the method of indirect advertising follows the standards in each of the following items; item 1, the size of indirect advertising, meaning the size of the marking by which a trademark, logo or other product identifier is exposed, shall not exceed one quarter of the screen, provided that in the case of mobile multimedia broadcasting it may not exceed one third of the screen.

Which Programmes May Carry It at All

Before either ceiling applies, the decree runs an eligibility gate. Article 59-3(1) states the permission and then removes two categories from it.

① 간접광고는 교양 또는 오락에 관한 방송프로그램에만 허용된다. 다만, 교양 또는 오락에 관한 방송프로그램 중 다음 각 호의 어느 하나에 해당하는 방송프로그램은 허용되지 아니한다.
1. 어린이를 주 시청대상으로 하는 방송프로그램
2. 보도ㆍ시사ㆍ논평ㆍ토론 등 객관성과 공정성이 요구되는 방송프로그램

In English: indirect advertising is permitted only in broadcast programmes concerning culture or entertainment; provided that, among such programmes, it is not permitted in a programme falling under either of the following items: item 1, a programme whose main intended viewers are children; item 2, a programme such as news reporting, current affairs, commentary or debate, for which objectivity and fairness are required.

The first item is not left to impression. Article 59(1) of the same decree defines 어린이를 주 시청대상으로 하는 방송프로그램 as 13세 미만의 어린이를 대상으로 어린이의 건강한 성장, 정서 발달과 문화적 다양성 확립을 돕는 방송내용물을 말한다. 이하 같다 — broadcast content aimed at children under 13 that helps their healthy growth, emotional development and the establishment of cultural diversity, with the closing 이하 같다 carrying that meaning through the provisions that follow. The bar in Article 59-3(1) item 1 therefore has an age boundary attached to it.

The gate has a second leaf, which follows the product rather than the programme.

② 다른 법령 또는 심의규정에 따라 방송광고가 금지되거나 방송광고의 허용시간을 제한받는 상품 등은 간접광고를 할 수 없다.

In English: goods and the like whose broadcast advertising is prohibited, or whose permitted advertising time is restricted, under another statute or under a review standard may not be the subject of indirect advertising. A product that cannot be advertised in a break also cannot be advertised inside the story.

The Numbers

Seven values in the two instruments can be read off the text rather than inferred from practice.

• 7/100 of running time is the ceiling on indirect advertising, under Decree Article 59-3(3).
• One quarter of the screen is the largest the identifying marking may be, under Article 59-3(4) item 1.
• One third of the screen is the same limit for mobile multimedia broadcasting, under the proviso to that item.
• 7/100 of running time is a separate ceiling on virtual advertising, under Article 59-2(3).
• Two programme categories are removed by the proviso to Article 59-3(1): programmes aimed mainly at children, and news, current affairs, commentary or debate.
• Five method conditions are listed in Article 59-3(4), of which the size limit is only the first.
• 1/64 of the screen is the minimum size of the caption reading 광고방송 that Article 59(1) of the same decree requires during advertising in children's programming, which is a useful sense of how small a screen fraction the decree is willing to specify.

The decree states ratios. Broadcasters do not publish what those ratios come to in seconds, so the conversion below is this article's calculation rather than a published figure.

Seven percent of a 60-minute programme is 252 seconds, or 4 minutes 12 seconds. For a 70-minute programme it is 294 seconds, or 4 minutes 54 seconds. For an 80-minute programme it is 336 seconds, or 5 minutes 36 seconds. None of these require rounding.

Virtual advertising, the computer-generated images inserted into a programme, carries its own 7/100 ceiling in Article 59-2(3), and the decree sets no combined ceiling for the two forms together. For a programme that qualifies for both, the arithmetic sum of the two independent limits is therefore 14 percent: 504 seconds at 60 minutes, 588 seconds at 70 minutes and 672 seconds at 80 minutes. That total is an upper bound obtained by adding two separate provisions. It is not a figure the decree grants in those words, and it is also not a target, since each ceiling has its own eligibility gate.

The screen fraction converts the same way. A 1920 by 1080 frame contains 2,073,600 pixels. One quarter of it is 518,400 pixels, the area of a 720-pixel square. One third, the mobile multimedia allowance, is 691,200 pixels. The gap between the two is one twelfth of the frame, or 172,800 pixels. These are also this article's calculation, and they describe area rather than any particular shape: the decree limits how much of the screen the marking occupies, not where it sits.

The Four Conditions That Travel With Every Placement

The size limit is item 1 of five. The remaining four items in Article 59-3(4) are conduct rules, and they are the part of the provision that a viewer can check without a stopwatch.

2. 방송프로그램에 간접광고가 포함되는 경우 해당 방송프로그램 시작 전에 간접광고가 포함되어 있음을 자막으로 표기하여 시청자가 명확하게 알 수 있도록 할 것
3. 간접광고가 해당 방송프로그램의 내용이나 구성에 영향을 미치지 아니할 것
4. 해당 방송프로그램에서 간접광고를 하는 상품 등을 언급하거나 구매ㆍ이용을 권유하지 아니할 것
5. 간접광고로 인하여 시청자의 시청흐름이 방해되지 아니하도록 할 것

In English: item 2, where a broadcast programme contains indirect advertising, that fact shall be marked as a caption before the programme starts so that viewers can clearly know it; item 3, indirect advertising shall not affect the content or composition of the programme; item 4, the programme shall not mention the advertised goods or recommend purchasing or using them; item 5, indirect advertising shall not disturb the viewing flow.

Item 2 is the disclosure notice that appears before an episode begins. Items 3 and 4 are the ones that shape what a placement can look like: a product may be present and visible, but the script is not supposed to bend around it and a character is not supposed to talk it up. Item 5 is the catch-all, and it is the least measurable of the four.

Where This Doesn't Apply

• Unavoidable exposure is outside the clock. The proviso in Article 59-3(3) excludes time in which a name or logo appears naturally as an unavoidable matter of production. A sign that a real location simply has is a different thing from a placed prop, and the ceiling does not count it.
• Mobile multimedia broadcasting gets one third, not one quarter. The proviso to Article 59-3(4) item 1 sets the larger fraction for that delivery form.
• Virtual advertising in sport can lose the time limit altogether. Article 59-2(3) reads: 가상광고의 시간은 해당 방송프로그램 시간의 100분의 7 이하로 한다. 다만, 운동경기를 중계하는 방송프로그램의 가상광고의 경우 경기장에 설치되어 있는 광고판을 대체하는 방식이거나 우천으로 인한 운동경기 중단 등 불가피한 사유로 해당 방송프로그램 시간이 변경되는 경우에는 가상광고의 시간에 제한을 두지 않는다. Where the virtual image replaces an advertising board already installed in the venue, or where the running time changes for an unavoidable reason such as rain stopping play, the proviso places no limit on the time.
• Sales content on a home shopping channel is not broadcast advertising. Article 73(3) of the Act provides that for broadcasting specialising in the introduction and sale of goods, the content concerning that introduction and sale is not regarded as broadcast advertising.
• The 14 percent figure is arithmetic, not permission. It comes from adding two ceilings the decree keeps separate, and the categories of programme eligible for each are not identical.
• The two eligible categories are defined, but not for this provision. Article 50(2) of the same decree opens with 제1항에서, defining the terms for the purposes of Article 50(1), and it reads 교양에 관한 방송프로그램 as programmes whose purpose is raising the public's culture and education, together with programmes for the education of children and adolescents, and 오락에 관한 방송프로그램 as 국민정서의 함양과 여가생활의 다양화를 목적으로 하는 방송프로그램, programmes whose purpose is cultivating public sentiment and diversifying leisure. Unlike the children's-programming definition in Article 59(1), that paragraph carries no 이하 같다, so on its own wording it does not reach across to the gate in Article 59-3(1).
• These provisions address broadcasters under the Broadcasting Act. Whether a particular online distribution route falls inside that Act's definitions is a separate question, and this article does not resolve it.

If You Are Actually in This Situation

For an outside production company, the relevant paragraphs are further down Article 73 of the Act. Paragraph (5) allows an outsourced producer to sell indirect advertising for a programme it produces. Paragraph (6) requires the broadcaster and the producer, following the procedures prescribed by Presidential Decree, to agree before the sales consignment or sales contract is concluded on whether the placement breaches paragraph (2) of the same Article, the review standards under Article 33(1), or the broadcaster's own review standards under Article 86, and to keep to what was agreed. Paragraph (7) requires the producer to hand the programme over in time for that self-review. Paragraph (8) covers channels that may carry only advertising consigned through a sales agency, and requires the producer to consign the placement sales to that agency as prescribed by Presidential Decree.

For the detailed standards, Article 59-2(5) of the decree lets 방송미디어통신위원회 publish a notice setting out the time and method of virtual advertising in more detail. The current text of both instruments is published by 국가법령정보센터, the Korean Law Information Center, which is where the version numbers cited above come from.

This article reads published provisions and converts stated ratios into seconds and pixels. It is not legal advice, and a specific production or complaint should be taken to the competent authority or to a qualified lawyer.