Theaters crowded again as ticket prices cut by 60 percent

People queue in front of ticket kiosks at a movie theater in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Local theaters were crowded with moviegoers over the weekend after the Korea Film Council (KOFIC) provided a 60 percent movie ticket subsidy to operators to cope with falling sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to KOFIC, 485,942 people watched movies between June 4 and 7 ― up over 110 percent compared to a week ago.

The newly released Korean film “Intruder” benefited a lot from the resulting discount; nearly 290,000 people saw the film over the weekend.

KOFIC launched the campaign “See it again at a theater” to aid the virus-hit film industry May 28. Under the plan, the KOFIC subsidy allows moviegoers to purchase tickets for 6,000 won for three weeks, starting June 4. The discounted prices on 1.3 million tickets apply only on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“A red flag was raised for the Korean film industry as it was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic,” it said in a statement released last week. “The campaign aims to revive the film industry and revitalize overall society with financial assistance for citizens' cultural activities.”

Like other sectors, the film industry was hit hard as social distancing has been extended with the continued virus pandemic and infection clusters.

Those who are involved in the industry urged KOFIC to provide support to counter the losses many film producers and distributors are facing.

KOFIC responded with the discounted movie tickets to encourage viewers to watch movies in theaters.

The plan has drawn a mixed reaction from the public. Some welcomed it but some expressed worries because of the spread of the virus.

In fact, the government and state-run organizations have dealt with the situation in inconsistent ways, taking opposite measures over the recent spread of the virus.

While KOFIC has encouraged people to go to movie theaters, the Korea Film Archive, another state-run agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, closed its facilities from May 29 to June 16. The latter's move came after the government made a decision to temporarily close state-run art facilities to prevent further spread of the virus. The facility was established to promote the film industry by preserving movies and screening films in its own theater.

The policy inconsistency has drawn criticism.

“One state-run agency encourages people to go to movie houses with a ticket discount, while another continues with social distancing. This is contradictory,” said a staff member at a Seoul-based independent film theater, who asked for anonymity.

“I understand the coronavirus pandemic is kind of an unprecedented crisis the government is dealing with, so policy inconsistency is understandable. But I hope that the government can heed the outcry from people who are suffering the most from the pandemic, such as people who were laid off because of the virus. These victims were forgotten in the policy responses.”