Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Theaters, hotels boom ahead of big match
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff reporter
After Korea's footballers reached the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup, their supporters' fervor is getting hotter this weekend as the Korean team takes on Uruguay.
Movie theaters have become a new hot spot for watching the 2010 World Cup games, either in 2D or 3D.
Three multiplex chains in Korea - CGV, Megabox and Lotte Cinema - screened the Korean first round games and more than 90 percents of the seats were filled and 3D theaters were all sold out through advance ticketing.
People were especially excited with the new experience of watching games in 3D, which is a new feature of this World Cup. "It was very realistic to see players shooting in 3D," said Kim Sung-hyun, 30, who watched the Korea-Argentina game at Yeongdeungpo CGV.
Lee Hee-young, 25, a graduate student, made reservations at several cinemas screening the Korea-Nigeria game in 3D to find the best seat.
"I reserved eights seats and chose the best one. The other six were taken by my friends who could not get tickets," Lee said. "I liked the big screen and 3D display, but the best thing was the excitement of watching the game together."
However, some guests seated in the front rows complained of a little dizziness and the screen being dark.
"All 450 seats of a theater in COEX Megabox sold out in 30 minutes on Wednesday morning when the Korean team progressed to the round of 16," a Megabox official said.
Hotels are also seeing fully booked rooms.
The Grand InterContinental and COEX InterContinental, located near Yeongdong-daero, a new center for street cheering is fully booked for Saturday night. "This is the first time for Koreans to flock to our hotel on the weekend," arepresentative of InterContinental said. The hotel generally has more international guests, in Korea for business.
The Westin Chosun Seoul and Lotte Hotel Seoul near Seoul Plaza also said their rooms are all sold out for Saturday as people want to stay in a hotel after participating in street cheering for the Korea-Uruguay game.