Movie Industry
SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean film industry posted record revenue of nearly 1.9 trillion won (US$1.76 billion) in 2013 thanks to robust domestic ticket sales and a jump in exports, data showed.
The industry's sales reached 1.88 trillion last year, easily surpassing the previous record of 1.57 trillion won for 2004, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) released on Thursday.
This was the result of a recent increase in local box-office sales and the recovery of the nation's secondary market such as Internet TV, DVDs and overseas exports, the council said.
Last year, movie ticket sales grew 6.6 percent, and secondary market sales jumped 24 percent to 267.6 billion won. Overseas exports of Korean films jumped 57.2 percent on-year to $59 million.
Local cinemas attracted a record of 213.32 million viewers, equivalent to every Korean visiting the cinema 4.25 times a year, the most of any country.'
Boosted by the increased film sales at home and abroad, the investment earnings rate of Korean films recorded 15.2 percent in 2013, up from 13.3 percent in 2012.
Homegrown films led the growth of the Korean film industry as in 2012.
In 2013, Korean films drew 127 million viewers, a 11-percent increase from the previous year, accounting for 59.7 percent of box-office sales, KOFIC said.
sshim@yna.co.kr