KOFIC Screens Accessible Version of The King's Warden Nationwide in Honor of Disability Awareness Day

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC, Chairman Han Sang-jun) expanded cinema access for audiences with disabilities by screening the Gachibom version of The King's Warden at 79 theaters across the country from Monday, April 6 through Friday, April 17.

The screenings were part of a cultural accessibility initiative organized in conjunction with Disability Awareness Day (April 20). The Gachibom version — featuring integrated subtitles and audio description — was designed to allow audiences with hearing and visual impairments to follow and engage with the film more fully. By selecting The King's Warden, the highest-grossing domestic release in South Korean box office history, as the vehicle for this expanded accessibility initiative, KOFIC aimed to broaden meaningful cultural participation for disabled audiences. The simultaneous nationwide rollout was particularly notable for its potential to reduce regional disparities in access to inclusive screenings.

A special screening event was held on Tuesday, April 14 at CGV Guro, bringing together approximately 200 attendees with disabilities alongside KOFIC representatives and officials from the Korea Association of the Deaf. The event offered participants the opportunity to watch the film together and share their viewing experiences. One attendee remarked, "Having both subtitles and descriptions made it much easier to follow the story — I was really able to get absorbed in the film."

In his address, Chairman Han Sang-jun stated: "Ensuring that all audiences can experience film on equal footing is a challenge the film industry must work through together. We will continue to build the foundations necessary for accessibility considerations to be consistently integrated across production, distribution, and exhibition."

KOFIC plans to use the viewer feedback and on-site observations gathered through this initiative to further develop the policies and support structures needed to establish accessible screenings as a stable and enduring fixture of the industry.

The Gachibom screening program was funded through lottery proceeds administered by the National Lottery Commission, and was carried out as a public interest initiative aimed at expanding cultural participation among underserved communities.