Korean box office hails "President"

South Korean moviegoers welcomed the arrival of Hallyu star Jang Dong-gun's new film "Good Morning President", which topped the domestic box office in the first week of its release.

"President" became the most-watched film over the weekend of October 23-25 with 706,409 viewers and a total 816,565 viewers since its opening on October 22, according to estimates released by Korea Box Office Information System (KOBIS) on Monday.

The film, about the life of three different presidents, is Jang's first box office hit in nearly four years, after starring in "Typhoon" in December 2005.

Hollywood science fiction movie "District 9" stepped down to second place from last week's No. 1 with 158,362 viewers for the weekend and grossing 618,968 viewers in total.

Sci-fi horror film "Pandorum" came in third with 70,150 viewers and "New York I Love You" followed with 45,057 viewers for the weekend. "Closer to Heaven", starring Kim Myung-min and Ha Ji-won, trailed at No. 5 by drawing 34,007 viewers for the same period.

"The Sword with No Name", "I Come With the Rain", "City of Fathers" and "Goodbye Mom" and "Naruto" rounded out the top ten.

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr