Exports plummet for Korean films
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Overconfidence in Korean Wave results in poor strategy, with a series of major flops in Japan sparking setbacks
By Yang Sung-jin
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is poised to infuse more energy into the sagging export of Korean films in a bid to prevent the Korean Wave, or "hallyu", from fizzling out in the crucial Asian market.
Last Thursday, Culture Minister Kim Myung-gon said the ministry will set up a "Korean film export promotion center" this year to collect international market data and help ship more Korean movies to key overseas markets.
To help bolster exports, the ministry will also run a Korean film information system -both online and offline - in a bid to help promote home-grown movies at major international film festivals.
The latest batch of supportive measures came as the Korean movie industry seems to be on the verge of losing its hard-won momentum, especially in overseas markets. High-quality Korean flicks and top-rated hallyu stars led by Bae Yong-joon had taken the lead in spreading Korean pop culture across Asia. In 2006, however, exports of Korean films plunged, sounding alarms in a film industry which took pride in the unprecedented growth enjoyed in the past years. Korea exported 208 films to 58 countries taking in $24.5 million last year, down 68 percent from a year earlier. The drastic fall is all the more ominous given that the bulk of the reduced export volume came from the most important Korean Wave market - Asia. In 2005, the Asian region absorbed Korean movies worth $66.1 million, but in 2006, the figure tumbled 74.3 percent to $17 million.
A closer look at the export data released by the Korean Film Council reveals a more troubling fact: Japan is showing signs of fatigue - or outright disappointment - over Korean films.
The revenue generated by Korean films screened in Japan declined to $10.3 million in 2006, down a whopping 83 percent from $60.3 million in 2005. So what went wrong?
"The reason why the Japanese market, once recognized as the third funding source of Korean films, cooled down so rapidly was that most Korean films sold at very high prices and experienced large failures in the Japanese market. Furthermore, as the market share of Japanese films in their own market is rapidly rising, the export of Korean films is not expected to recover in the short term", the Korean Film Council said in its latest industry newsletter "Korean Film Observatory". "Welcome to Dongmakgo", "The King and the Clown", and "The Host" wowed Korean audiences. Consequently, a slew of Japanese importers rushed to sign deals to import these Korean blockbusters. But the three supposed blockbusters flopped in Japan, shocking Japanese distributors. The enthusiasm of Japanese film importers has evaporated, casting a cloud over the prospects for Korean films in Japan in the coming years.
The backlash from Japan, however, came as no surprise because film critics and movie industry experts earlier pointed to a saturation or Korean Wave stars in the Japanese film market, as well as the seemingly bloated export prices of some films.
The underlying problem, of course, can be found within: Korean filmmakers and top stars are said to have relied too much on the Korean Wave without mapping out a long-term plan to enter Japan and establish a solid footing there.
Big-budget Korean films, primarily targeting the Asian market, also failed to meet expectations at the box office, and there was no major wide release of a Korean film in Europe, which used to favor a host of Korean filmmakers known for their unique artistic sensibility.
Korean movie producers and distributors are knocking on the doors of the U.S. movie market, but it seems it will take a while to get a foothold in the world's biggest film market.
A bigger problem is that Korea ended up with a dismal export figure in 2006 although it produced 110 films, surpassing the 100 mark for the first time. Korean movies staged a quantitative growth last year but their combined commercial potential, usually on the strength of exports, weakened significantly.
By Yang Sung-jin
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is poised to infuse more energy into the sagging export of Korean films in a bid to prevent the Korean Wave, or "hallyu", from fizzling out in the crucial Asian market.
Last Thursday, Culture Minister Kim Myung-gon said the ministry will set up a "Korean film export promotion center" this year to collect international market data and help ship more Korean movies to key overseas markets.
To help bolster exports, the ministry will also run a Korean film information system -both online and offline - in a bid to help promote home-grown movies at major international film festivals.
The latest batch of supportive measures came as the Korean movie industry seems to be on the verge of losing its hard-won momentum, especially in overseas markets. High-quality Korean flicks and top-rated hallyu stars led by Bae Yong-joon had taken the lead in spreading Korean pop culture across Asia. In 2006, however, exports of Korean films plunged, sounding alarms in a film industry which took pride in the unprecedented growth enjoyed in the past years. Korea exported 208 films to 58 countries taking in $24.5 million last year, down 68 percent from a year earlier. The drastic fall is all the more ominous given that the bulk of the reduced export volume came from the most important Korean Wave market - Asia. In 2005, the Asian region absorbed Korean movies worth $66.1 million, but in 2006, the figure tumbled 74.3 percent to $17 million.
A closer look at the export data released by the Korean Film Council reveals a more troubling fact: Japan is showing signs of fatigue - or outright disappointment - over Korean films.
The revenue generated by Korean films screened in Japan declined to $10.3 million in 2006, down a whopping 83 percent from $60.3 million in 2005. So what went wrong?
"The reason why the Japanese market, once recognized as the third funding source of Korean films, cooled down so rapidly was that most Korean films sold at very high prices and experienced large failures in the Japanese market. Furthermore, as the market share of Japanese films in their own market is rapidly rising, the export of Korean films is not expected to recover in the short term", the Korean Film Council said in its latest industry newsletter "Korean Film Observatory". "Welcome to Dongmakgo", "The King and the Clown", and "The Host" wowed Korean audiences. Consequently, a slew of Japanese importers rushed to sign deals to import these Korean blockbusters. But the three supposed blockbusters flopped in Japan, shocking Japanese distributors. The enthusiasm of Japanese film importers has evaporated, casting a cloud over the prospects for Korean films in Japan in the coming years.
The backlash from Japan, however, came as no surprise because film critics and movie industry experts earlier pointed to a saturation or Korean Wave stars in the Japanese film market, as well as the seemingly bloated export prices of some films.
The underlying problem, of course, can be found within: Korean filmmakers and top stars are said to have relied too much on the Korean Wave without mapping out a long-term plan to enter Japan and establish a solid footing there.
Big-budget Korean films, primarily targeting the Asian market, also failed to meet expectations at the box office, and there was no major wide release of a Korean film in Europe, which used to favor a host of Korean filmmakers known for their unique artistic sensibility.
Korean movie producers and distributors are knocking on the doors of the U.S. movie market, but it seems it will take a while to get a foothold in the world's biggest film market.
A bigger problem is that Korea ended up with a dismal export figure in 2006 although it produced 110 films, surpassing the 100 mark for the first time. Korean movies staged a quantitative growth last year but their combined commercial potential, usually on the strength of exports, weakened significantly.
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