The Korean Film Industry: From Domestic “Straggler” to Global “Outperformer”

To what extent is the Korean film industry a global outperformer? This chapter sets the scene by showing how Korea measures up to its five main competitors (China, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the US). This comparison covers the key dimensions of the Korean film industry’s growth—film markets, public financial support, regulations, and film quality. Based upon large data sets covering a long period from 1980 to 2018, the reader can trace the historical progress of how Korea went from straggler to global outperformer.