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| Korean film industry experts attend the "Post-coronavirus Era: Korean Cinema Prepares for the Next 100 Years" forum held in a seminar room at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Kwak Yeon-soo |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Experts and government officials met on Friday to analyze the impact of the coronavirus on Korea's film industry and to discuss ways to revive domestic cinema.
The "Post-coronavirus Era: Korean Cinema Prepares for the Next 100 Years" forum was organized by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) and hosted by Rep. Lim O-kyeong of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
About 100 people attended, including Vice Culture Minister Oh Young-woo, DPK Rep. Do Jong-hwan and KOFIC Chairperson Oh Seok-geun.
"Several summer blockbuster films like 'Peninsula' and 'Steel Rain 2' opened in theaters as planned and they're performing pretty well at the box office, but we're still uncertain as to when cinemas will return to normal," said Choi Jeong-hwa, the head of the Producers Guild of Korea.
"Although the number of moviegoers rose for the third consecutive month in July, we're still only seeing about 20-30 percent of the audience numbers from last year."
According to KOFIC data, the number of moviegoers in the first half of this year plunged 70.3 percent compared to the same period last year. The July figure fell 74 percent year-on-year from 21.92 million in the same month of 2019.
Choi gave examples of how France and Germany are providing help to the cultural and film industries to stress that the Korean government's support measures are not enough.
"Compared with France and Germany, which implemented both state rescue plans and policies specifically targeted at supporting the cinema and cultural industries, Korea merely came up with emergency measures," he said.
"Even with KOFIC's relief package to counter the losses, many film producers and distributors require approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and this is hindering efficient enforcement."
Choi Hang-sub, a sociology professor at Kookmin University, stressed that the film industry needs to assure the public of safety inside cinemas and at filming locations in the post-coronavirus era.
"The key to bringing moviegoers back to the cinema is to reassure them that movie theaters are safe from becoming the source of infections," he said. "Moreover, the film industry needs to develop audio-visual content and immersive technologies to attract movie enthusiasts."
Cho Sung-jin, a strategy support director at CGV, the largest theater chain in Korea, echoed the view, saying that multi-sensory cinema technologies, such as 4DX and Screen X, can offer immersive visuals.
"In order to grow the competitiveness of Korean movies, we need to expand our market to overseas," Cho said. "For instance, Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' earned about 2.5 times higher revenue from overseas markets than the local market. We also need to reform the film development fund and request more financial assistance from the government."
