'Dongmakgol' Set to Join '5-Million' Club

"Welcome to Dongmakgol", a film about Korean War soldiers who find refuge in a mysterious village, is set to break the 5-million-viewer mark at the local box office.

The film, which opened Aug. 4, has brought in 4.57 million moviegoers nationwide by Sunday. It is expected to surpass the numbers for "Running Boy", also known as "Marathon", which was seen by 5.18 million viewers nationwide earlier this year.

Only eight films have brought in over 5 million viewers at the local box office, and all of them did it within the past 6 years. The first to do so was "Shiri" in 1999, which was seen by 6.2 million people.

Last year, "TaeGuki" and "Silmido" made history by becoming the first films to go over the 11-million-viewer mark.

"Dongmakgol" also stayed on top of the weekend box office for the third week in a row, bringing in 169,000 viewers in Seoul on Saturday and Sunday. Local films "The Big Scene" and "Short Time" - "Lee Dae-ro Can't Die" came in second and third, respectively, followed by "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" and "Tom Yum Goong", the Thai martial arts film that is the sequel to "Ong Bak".

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