Korean Actors are Fearing Unemployment More Than Ever 

The Korean film industry is experiencing a crisis, not only in television but also in cinema. The number of films being produced or broadcasted is decreasing, leading to a situation where both staff and actors are unemployed and without work. Many actors admit that the current shortage of scripts is something they have never seen in many years of working in the industry.

Unemployment anxiety among Korean actors

Xports News reported that top stars who once dominated the Korean film industry during its golden age are now shedding tears over the industry’s changing landscape. The number of movies and dramas in South Korea is decreasing. Even projects with scheduled production dates are finding it difficult to be broadcasted. One reason for this is the influence of the OTT wave, according to Xports News.

Regarding this issue, many top Korean stars admit that they are unemployed.

In a video on his personal page, actor Lee Jang-woo expressed his desire to join a new project. However, currently, he is in a situation where he doesn’t have any scripts to accept. Therefore, the actor believes he needs to lose weight, work hard, and be ready to accept any kind of role.

The actor further stated that the film market in South Korea is deteriorating, as well as emphasized that weekend television dramas are experiencing a decrease in ratings.

Lee Jang-woo was a familiar face on Korean screens. He even starred in a drama called “My Only One” which achieved a rating of 48.5%.

In a recent program on JTBC, actor Kim Ji-seol also expressed concern and disappointment at not receiving any work offers.

“This situation has never happened before. I feel nervous and worried because I can’t shoot any projects this year. I heard that other actors filmed 6-7 projects last year, but I only filmed one. I don’t even care if it’s just a supporting role. I just want to work on a project and continue my acting career,” he said.

Unemployment is a common situation for many actors, even famous stars like Han Ye-seul and Kim Ha-neul.

“I want to participate in a project, but I haven’t received any offers. To be honest, I am increasingly worried about my future path. I even went to study skin care to get a certificate and possibly do a part-time job,” Han Ye-seul said recently.

According to Korean news site Maekyung, on March 11th, Kim Ha-neul appeared on a program hosted by MC Shin Dong-yup. Here, the actress, who won the 32nd Blue Dragon Award for her film “Blind,” revealed that she used to receive many offers to act to the point where she always had to decline them to take a break. But now, the number of acting offers for her has decreased significantly, making Kim Ha-neul feel that every script is very valuable.

Actress Oh Yoon-ah also emphasized that the scale of the television drama market has decreased by half compared to its peak. Therefore, even completed projects are finding it difficult to find broadcasting slots.

A prolonged period of stagnation

Even the Korean big screen is facing serious stagnation since the beginning of 2022 until now.

According to Sisaweek, based on data released by the Korean Film Council on February 28th, the total revenue in January was 74.7 billion won (about 56.8 million USD) – a decrease of 39.8% (49.4 billion won) compared to the same month last year. The total number of viewers in January was 7.75 million, a decrease of 31.1% (3.5 million) compared to the same month last year. “12.12: The Day” (exceeding 10 million viewers) or “Noryang: Sea of ​​Death” are rare works that actually did well.

However, the worrying thing is that no film has followed the success of “12.12: The Day” at the box office. The performance of “Noryang: Sea of ​​Death” is promising but still lower than expected, according to the South Korean media.

There are rumors circulating in the Korean film industry that the number of films invested by major distributors in 2024 has been halved. A source even told Ilyo, “No investor or distributor is willing to carefully consider recent scripts. They can’t invest unless you’re a director or famous actor who guarantees box office success.”

CJ ENM CEO Koo Chang-geun denied rumors of stopping investment in films, but he admitted that cutting back is inevitable.

Not only cinema but also domestic OTT platforms like Wavve, TVING, and Watcha are reducing investment in films. The reason is that these companies are constantly facing significant losses. Ironically, foreign OTT platforms are the last hope for Korean filmmakers. However, both Netflix and Disney+ are said to have reduced the number of works produced compared to last year.

Since 2022, filmmakers have begun to feel the decline in film production. Since then, Korean films have continuously failed, and the audience at the cinema has decreased significantly, according to Ilyo. Thus, the decline of Korean films continued until 2023. Only 7 films exceeded the breakeven point in 2023.

In particular, before “The Roundup: No Way Out” was released and saved the Korean film industry, no film in the country broke even for half a year since “The Owl” was released in November 2022.

The number of films produced significantly decreased in 2023. Isplus reported that in 2023, industry experts expected the film industry to completely emerge from the shadow of Covid-19. However, in reality, the number of moviegoers decreased below expectations in 2023.

“2023 is the most difficult year since I stepped into the film production industry,” one expert told Ilyo.

Not only actors considered as representatives of South Korea like Song Kang-ho, Ha Jung-woo, Sol Kyeong-gu, but also the most famous directors such as Choi Dong-hoon, Kim Yong-hwa, Kang Je-gyu, and Kim Ji-woon constantly face difficulties. People working in the film industry, regardless of the field such as production and marketing, all say that things are not the same as before. The box office formula used before the Covid-19 pandemic has been broken, and audience behavior towards watching movies has also changed.

So, why is the film and television industry, which has helped South Korea stand as a “content powerhouse,” facing difficulties?

Answering this question, a film industry official explained to Ilyo, “Investment has decreased due to the impact of high interest rates. Furthermore, after Covid-19, only a few films have succeeded at the box office, while most have failed heavily.”

In addition, director Kang Je-gyu believes that the audience’s standards are becoming stricter while movie ticket prices are rising. Therefore, directors also have to be very strict in their standards for selecting works. The development of foreign OTT platforms has also changed the viewing habits of audiences. Instead of going to the cinema, they choose to watch movies at home on OTT platforms to save costs and time.

What will the South Korean film industry look like in 2024?

Most filmmakers believe that reviving the film industry will be difficult. An expert told Ilyo, “I don’t think film production staff will easily find employment in 2024. Job competition is becoming fiercer. It seems that the film industry is still far from seeing its ‘spring’ again.”

According to Khan, at the end of February, the South Korean government announced the first regular investment project plan for 2024. The total size of the fund established this time is 65 billion won (49 million USD). The government’s policy aims to revive the domestic film industry, which has been stagnant since the pandemic.

Source: ZNews