hankyoreh

South Korea unveiled a US$670 million project for domestic films on Monday, aiming to have one of the world's top five cinema industries by 2011 and resolve rooted issues behind the ongoing renaissance at home.

The ambitious plan designed by the ruling Uri Party and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism came amid growing concern over the polarizing Korean movie industry, officials said. The success of blockbusters has edged out low-budget art movies in theaters, narrowing the spectrum of movie production.

"Korean movies have been developing to a dazzling stage in recent years, but on the other side of the coin there have been many unaddressed problems," Culture and Tourism Minister Kim Myung-gon said at a press conference in Seoul's Press Center.

The five-year project needs parliamentary approval and legislation to take effect. It centers on funding the production and distribution of low-budget movies; improving the cinematic infrastructure; financing welfare and training for movie staff; boosting promotion abroad; and supporting local film festivals and screening facilities.

Out of the 640-billion-won budget, the biggest portion of about 226 billion won will go toward improving the cinematic infrastructure such as protecting film copyrights and providing financial incentives for investors in movie production.

"When we talked to people from the movie industry, they said the most urgent issue that needs to be addressed is the rampant practice of illegal downloading, which cuts off their secondary source of income. They said it is very difficult for the industry to prosper without preventing those illegal practices," Rep. Lee Mi-kyung, a member of the parliament's culture and tourism committee from the Uri Party, said.

Other plans include building 70 theater screens dedicated to low-budget art movies, opening Korean movie-only theaters in cities of the United States, France, China and Southeast Asia and providing tax incentives for movie-related firms supporting the government plan.

The blueprint predicts that by 2011 the Korean movie industry will be double its current scale. Under the agenda, the domestic movie market will double to 3 trillion won from the current 1.4 trillion won, its percentage of the world market will rise to 3 percent from the current 1.6 percent, and audience at home and abroad is to climb to 300 million people from the current 150 million. Above all, it says overseas sales of Korean movies will jump to 300 billion won from the 76 billion won filed in 2005.

Questions remain, however, over how to implement the massive funding plan. The government plans to provide 200 billion won of the 640 billion won budget from ticket sales. Some 3 to 5 percent of every ticket will have to go to the project, and the idea has yet to be approved by theater owners.

Also, there has been mounting distrust by movie industry personnel toward the government after it scaled down a quota for domestic movies in July. Local theaters are now required to screen local movies for at least 73 days a year, half of the initial 146 days. The reduction, which was a long-held demand from the U.S. as a prerequisite to start free trade talks, sparked ongoing street protests by movie workers.

Seoul, Oct. 23 (Yonhap News)