Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Monthly ticket sales for theater performances recover to pre-pandemic levels
Jaap van Zweden, the Dutch music director of both the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic orchestras enters the stage for a performance with the KBS Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center, Oct. 29. Korea Times photo by Jang Jae-jin
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Aggregate ticket sales for musicals, plays, classical concerts and other performances reached 30.3 billion won ($25.7 billion) in October, according to the data from the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS), for the first time in about 21 months, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Monthly revenue had been on a steady decline since January last year when it reached 40.5 billion won ― it amounted to 20.9 billion won in February and 9.1 billion won in March of 2020. Monthly revenue fell to its lowest level in January this year, recording 3.7 billion won. However, except for July and August, when the number of infections soared, revenue has been showing a rebound, as many learned that there were many infections at theaters.
Sales are likely to rise further as most shows have been ready to welcome customers due to the gradual easing of social distancing measures following the introduction of the government's “Living with COVID-19” plan, starting Nov. 1.
Previously, under Level 4 social distancing measures, only 70 percent of the seats in any performance venue could be sold, and there was a limit on operating hours of 10 p.m., but as of Nov. 1, these limitations have been lifted and theaters can now be fully filled with vaccinated audiences.