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On the 22nd, when the government strongly urged 'social distancing' to overcome COVID-19, a movie theater in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul was quiet. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jong-gil] The film industry, facing a collapse crisis due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has criticized the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council for standing by like spectators watching a fire at someone else’s house. They appealed for urgent support, urging recognition of the urgent reality of the film industry.

On the 25th, the film industry issued a statement titled “The film industry is on the brink of collapse due to COVID-19, government support is desperately needed,” stating, “The Korean film industry is now facing an existential crisis, being dragged into an abyss whose depth cannot even be measured.” They criticized, “Despite the situation, the government support completely ignores us,” and “The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council, which are responsible for film policy, seem unable to recognize the urgent reality of the film industry.”

The statement was joined not only by various film organizations such as the Korean Film Producers Association, Korean Film Directors Association, Film Organizations Solidarity Conference, Film Importers and Distributors Association, Korean Theater Association, Korean Film Marketing Association, Women Filmmakers’ Group, Korean Film Digital Distribution Association, Korean Cinematographers Guild, Art House Theater Association, and Korean Film Producers Association, but also by theaters including CGV, Lotte Cinema, Megabox, and CineQ.

On the 22nd, when the government strongly urged for 'social distancing' to overcome COVID-19, a movie theater in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul was quiet. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

They emphasized, “Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the number of moviegoers has dropped to about 30,000 per day, an 80% decrease compared to last year, marking an all-time low,” and “Since about 80% of the total revenue of the Korean film industry comes from theater sales, the decline in theater revenue means the collapse of the entire film industry.” They added, “Film-related companies are already unable to endure and are saying goodbye one by one to employees who are like family,” and “The crisis in the film industry will inevitably lead to massive unemployment, which will clearly result in a sharp weakening of the competitiveness of Korean films.”

They made three major requests to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council: ▲ Immediate implementation of various financial support policies ▲ Emergency support using government budget allocation and resources such as the Film Development Fund ▲ Inclusion of the film industry in the special employment support sectors. Recently, the government excluded the film industry from the special employment support sectors, which included travel, tourism accommodation, tourism transportation, and performance industries. The Korean Film Council only delivered 5,000 hand sanitizers to theaters and did not propose any other solutions. Although a dedicated window for COVID-19 damage support was established belatedly, it has only received criticism for its ineffectiveness.

Theater official A said, “Even though the Korean Film Council collected COVID-19 damage data twice, they did not prepare any countermeasures,” and “I don’t understand why they are collecting damage data again after investigating for about two months.” Theater official B also said, “Just by looking at the integrated ticketing system data compiled by the Korean Film Council, you can see how serious the situation is,” and “It is deplorable that they say they will investigate damage by sector when they should be coming up with effective support measures.”

On the 22nd, when the government strongly urged 'social distancing' to overcome COVID-19, a movie theater in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul was quiet. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

The Korean Film Council admitted, “The committee’s administrative system is organized mainly around supporting Korean film production, distribution, and screening projects, so it was unable to respond adequately to the unprecedented crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19.” Regarding the temporary exemption of the Film Development Fund requested by theaters, they said, “It is an issue that requires legal amendment, so we need to discuss it carefully with related ministries.” In fact, the Film Development Fund can be exempted without legal amendment. It would be enough to include a plan to refund the imposed fund in next year’s business plan.

Theaters struggling to continue operations are expected to suffer significant losses this year. Theater official B predicted, “If the current trend continues, CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Megabox could record losses exceeding 30 billion won this month.” He added, “The monthly rent each company has to pay reaches 10 billion won. If there is no rebound next month, there could be problems with paying wages and other expenses.” Theater official C reported, “Not only are new releases impossible, but even ancillary revenues such as concessions and advertising have dried up,” and “Some theaters in provincial areas have reached the point of considering closure or repurposing.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.