South Korea Approves Record KRW 65.59 Billion Emergency Supplementary Budget for Film Industry

South Korea's National Assembly has approved a record-breaking KRW 65.59 billion (approx. USD 47.5 million) supplementary budget dedicated to the film sector — the largest emergency film allocation in the country's history. Passed in the first supplementary budget session of 2026 on April 10, the funding targets two strategic fronts: reigniting domestic audience engagement and reinforcing the production pipeline across budget tiers.

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC), under Chairman Han Sang-jun, will oversee rapid disbursement of the funds across four programs designed to stabilize the industry's ecosystem.

Audience Activation: KRW 27.1 Billion in Ticket Discounts

A newly established audience incentive program will allocate KRW 27.1 billion (approx. USD 19.6 million) to support a nationwide ticket discount scheme across all cinemas. Under the program, a KRW 6,000 discount will be applied per ticket, with 4.5 million discounted admissions to be distributed across the country.

Production Support: KRW 38.49 Billion Across Three Programs

The remaining KRW 38.49 billion (approx. USD 27.9 million) is directed at production, distributed across three initiatives:

• Independent and art-house film production support (budget increase): +KRW 4.49 billion (approx. USD 3.25 million)
• Mid-budget film production support (budget increase): +KRW 26 billion (approx. USD 18.8 million)
• Advanced production technology support for Korean cinema (new program): +KRW 8 billion (approx. USD 5.8 million)

KOFIC has stated its intention to execute the full budget as swiftly as possible. With the supplementary budget now confirmed, attention turns to the implementation timeline — particularly for the ticket discount rollout, which will require coordination with cinema operators nationwide.