Is 'KPop Demon Hunters' wake-up call Korean cinema needs?

A scene from Netflix’s animated feature “KPop Demon Hunters” / Courtesy of Netflix

What does a singalong screening of a K-pop-inspired animated film at Asia’s biggest film festival say about the future of Korean cinema?

That’s the question swirling after the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) announced a special event for Netflix’s "KPop Demon Hunters" — which became the platform’s most-watched film ever — and now a cultural phenomenon filling theaters in North America.

For many in Korea’s film industry, the movie’s meteoric rise poses a pressing question: can its global success serve as a road map for revitalization and international growth at a time when the industry is still struggling to emerge from a post-pandemic slump?

The organizers of the nation’s largest film festival seem to think so. BIFF will host a special singalong screening of the film during the festival, with director Maggie Kang in attendance. This decision reflects a wider desire within Korea’s film industry to become a more competitive player on the global stage.

Kim Young-deok, director of the Asian Contents & Film Market at BIFF, said that while this film was produced by an American studio and by an American production team, its global success, based on Korean culture, served as a major wake-up call for those in the Korean film industry, which didn’t pay much attention for globalizing its content.

“The domestic box office has only recovered to 60 percent of its pre-COVID levels. I think we were too satisfied with only the Korean market itself,” Kim said during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday.

The market director sees "KPop Demon Hunters" as a prime example of the kind of global thinking that the industry needs to embrace.

"The recent phenomenon of 'KPop Demon Hunters' becoming a worldwide sensation is something we couldn't have imagined," she said. "Even though the production company is Sony and the platform is Netflix, the [Korean American] creative talent behind it ultimately carried the power of Korean cinema."

Kim stressed that while Korean cinema has been exploring international collaborations since the late 1990s, the time to truly pivot toward a global perspective is now.

"Frankly, I think we're a little late," she admitted. She pointed to the successful joint ventures between Korean production companies and those in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, but emphasized the need for a broader, more strategic approach to global content creation.

“While we have pursued overseas co-productions and global expansion since 1998, I believe the need to produce and distribute content with a global perspective and targeting the global market is greater now than ever before.”

For Korean-made content aiming for global markets, "KPop Demon Hunters" director Kang believes the key to deep resonance with a global audience lies in universal themes.

"It's all really about story and how people can connect to the characters and the story on an emotional level," she told Korean reporters on Aug. 22.

She added that she sees film as a powerful tool for breaking down cultural barriers because, at their core, people everywhere share the same fundamental desires for love, security and acceptance.

Kang also noted that the film's success across various demographics, regardless of age or race, is a testament to this principle. "Everybody knows what that feels like to kind of hide parts of themselves or be ashamed of something," she said.

In addition to powerful, universal themes that can target overseas markets, the struggling Korean film industry also needs financial support, BIFF market director Kim emphasized.

"We feel the global impact of K-content so quickly because Netflix distributes it to the entire world simultaneously. However, the local film industry does not receive that benefit, and its workforce is even drained by these platforms," Kim said.

"While film has made a great contribution to promoting Korean culture, it is facing an internal crisis. Filmmakers, who don't have all the answers, are asking for more financial support because of this crisis, and there are people who question why we are always asking for money. But we believe this support is necessary and that it will ultimately return as a huge benefit to Korean content and its industries."

By Baek Byung-yeul (The Korea Times) (Click)