The last time Korean dramas surpassed the 10 million viewership mark nationwide was in 2024, when the supernatural horror film "Exhuma" directed by Jang Jae Hyun and "The Roundup: Punishment" - the fourth part of the famous crime action series starring Ma Dong Seok, both achieved this feat.
Last year, two highly anticipated films from famous Korean directors did not meet expectations: "Mickey 17" by Bong Joon Ho and "No Other Choice" by Park Chan Wook only attracted 3.1 million and 2.94 million viewers respectively.
The best-selling movie of Korean cinema in 2025 is "My Daughter is a Zombie", attracting 5.64 million viewers.
These figures show a gloomy picture of the kimchi country's film industry.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of audiences going to theaters each year in South Korea always exceeded 200 million people, reaching a record peak of 226 million people in 2019, according to data from the Korea Film Council (KOFIC).
That number dropped sharply to 51 million in 2020, and only partially recovered, increasing back to 115 million in 2022, before falling to 106 million last year.
However, there are also positive points that mid-range films serving a narrow audience have maintained their position last year, showing the potential of a more diverse cinema, including many genres and different tastes.
For example, Yeon Sang Ho's extremely low-budget film "The Ugly" attracted 1.07 million viewers; while the independent film "The World of Love" attracted 200,000 viewers - an impressive achievement for independent films.
The King's Warden", starring Yoo Hae Jin and Park Ji Hoon, with a milestone of 10 million tickets is expected to create momentum for the domestic series awaiting release this year.
Among them, there is the mysterious science fiction film "Hope" by Na Hong Jin - the director who made a strong impression with the hit film "The Wailing" in 2016.
With the participation of Hwang Jung Min and Jo In Sung, "Hope" marks Na Hong Jin's first work after a decade, telling a series of mysterious events taking place in a port village in a demilitarized zone.
In addition, Im Sang Soo's movie "Heaven: To the Land of Happiness" is also in production, telling the story of a prison breaker (Choi Min Sik) and a patient (Park Hae Il) going through a strange journey together after receiving a surprise amount of money.
The success of "The King's Warden", a film with a production budget of about 10.5 billion won (about 185 billion VND), also highlights the value of the Korean government's efforts in supporting medium-sized films.
In the context of increasingly polarized box office revenue and slow post-COVID-19 recovery, the South Korean government launched its first support program specifically targeting medium-budget films last year.
The budget allocated this year has doubled to 20 billion won, as part of a larger effort to revive the domestic film industry and strengthen what KOFIC Chairman, Mr. Han Sang Joon, calls the "backbone of Korean cinema".
