The Korean Box Office -- Which Films sold the most tickets in Korea in 2000? China, Korea, Japan, US-Asia, film, culture, business

UCLA Center for East Asian Studies

The South Korean Film Box Office
Film receipts through February 2, 2001 for films released in 2000.

The ticket sale figures below are only for Seoul, but probably indicate the relative popularity of these films. This information is from Koreanfilm.org (an excellent English language site on Korean film) as of March 22, 2001 and originally appeared in Cine21, a Korean language weekly film magazine. The government funded but independent Korean Film Commission has an outstanding website which includes a film archive.
    Domestic Films                   Tickets       Release      Weeks
1.  "Joint Security Area"          2,509,320        Sep 9         20*
2.  "The Foul King"                  817,870        Feb 4         12
3.  "Bi-Chun-Moo"                    730,300        Jul 1          7
4.  "The Legend of Gingko"           637,000        Nov 11         6
5.  "Libera Me"                      542,000        Nov 11         6
6.  "A Nightmare"                    341,796        Jul 29         5
7.  "Ditto"                          326,000        May 27        10
8.  "Lies"                           320,000        Jan 8          5
9.  "Peppermint Candy"               311,000        Jan 1         11
10. "Jakarta"                        300,000        Dec 30         5*
    All Films                        Tickets       Release      Weeks 
1.  "Joint Security Area" (Korea)  2,530,000        Sep 9         18*
2.  "Mission: Impossible 2" (U.S.) 1,130,000        Jun 17         8
3.  "Gladiator" (U.S.)             1,127,000        Jun 3         13
4.  "The Foul King" (Korea)          817,870        Feb 4         12
5.  "Bi-Chun-Moo" (Korea)            730,300        Jul 1          7
6.  "The Legend of Gingko" (Korea)   637,000        Nov 11         6
7.  "Dinosaur" (U.S.)                619,000        July 15        6
8.  "The Perfect Storm" (U.S.)       572,000        Jul 29         5
9.  "Libera Me" (Korea)              542,000        Nov 11         6
10. "Charlie's Angels" (U.S.)        487,000        Nov 25         5
Film tickets generally cost US$5, but on 12/25/00 the Korea Herald reported prices were due to rise as much as 16% (to 7,000 won) in 2001.
"Joint Security Area" is the top grossing film in South Korean history. According to the Korean Film Commission, the Korean film share of South Korean film attendance in 2000 was 32.6%, a drop from the 35.8% of 1999, but still an improvement over the early 1990s.
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