Will new president revive Korea’s struggling film industry?
President Lee Jae-myung, center, speaks with filmmaker Yoon Je-kyun, left, and screenwriter Kim Eun-sook at a cafe in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, during a meeting with content industry officials as part of his presidential campaign, May 7. Joint Press Corps
Hope is rising within the local film industry, currently facing challenges with the rise of streaming services and the increase of ticket prices, as President Lee Jae-myung takes office as Korea’s new president .
President Lee’s inauguration comes at a critical time for the entertainment sector. According to the Korean Film Council, the revenue of local theaters last year was 1.1945 trillion won ($881.3 million) in 2024, just 65.3 percent of the average revenue of 1.8282 trillion won ($1.35 billion) between 2017 and 2019.
Industry officials say while Korean films have increasingly been earning global recognition — highlighted by the Oscar-winning “Parasite” — the local industry is facing a crisis. Many officials blame the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration for scaling back support for film festivals and independent cinema, which they say has eroded the industry’s diversity.
“It is true that the rise of streaming platforms, which provide way more for production cost than local film production companies, have sparked difficulties for the local film industry. Theater chains had to increase their ticket prices due to rising consumer prices. But at the same time, the previous administration’s budget cuts for the local film industry and independent films also worked negatively, as this policy eroded the industry’s diversity,” a filmmaker said on condition of anonymity.
During his campaign, Lee pledged to make Korea one of the world’s top five cultural powerhouses. He promised to expand support for K-pop, K-drama, K-webtoons (online comics), K-games, K-food and K-beauty, as well as to strengthen training programs and creative spaces for artists.
The president has also pledged to consider a range of measures, including designating film, drama, webtoons and games as strategic national industries and expanding tax credits for production costs.
Hoping for a breakthrough, some in the country’s film industry publicly endorsed Lee, reflecting the sector’s urgent desire for change and his pledge to nurture Korea’s cultural content and treat it as a new export item.
On May 28, days before the June 3 presidential election, 315 film professionals urged the new administration to increase investment in mid-budget productions and to boost the audience share of independent and art house films to 10 percent.
“Now is a golden time for recovery,” Lee Ha-young, CEO of Haha Films, said during a meeting with the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul. “We hope the new government will open the way for sustainable growth.”
Rep. Kim Nam-geun, front row second from left, and Rep. Min Byoung-dug, front row third from left, of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), pose with film industry officials announcing their support for President Lee Jae-myung, then a presidential candidate, at the National Assembly in Seoul, May 28. Courtesy of the filmmakers
DPK lawmakers echoed these concerns, noting the urgent need for fairer revenue sharing between theaters and production companies.
"With the rapid growth of OTT (over-the-top streaming services), the production environment is changing quickly, and the theater's demand monopoly structure is becoming entrenched,” Rep. Kim Nam-geun of the DPK said. “As a result, the Korean film industry is facing a serious crisis. It's essential to create a fair trading environment and for the government to provide continuous and systematic support."
Oh Jung-min, who won the Best New Director award at this year's Baeksang Awards with his 2024 film "House of the Seasons," said he couldn't even complete his film without support from government funding, and asked the new administration for more financial and policy support.
"Without the support of public funds from the Korean Film Council, 'House of the Seasons' couldn't have been made. Despite the difficult circumstances, we drew about 30,000 viewers, but with only 60 screens, we ultimately haven't reached a break-even point yet," Oh said during a May 27 meeting between the DPK officials and a group of Korean filmmakers.
"However, I'm probably one of the lucky ones," Oh added, "The independent film ecosystem here does desperately need a system guaranteeing a minimum level of screening."