Movies released last year were embroiled in suspicions of manipulating the number of audiences.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said at a press conference held at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul on July 17th, “We are investigating 462 movies from 2019 to this year, believing that the number of audiences was manipulated.”
They added, “A total of 6 companies, including 3 multiplexes and 3 movie distributors, were searched and seized on June 13th. We are investigating those involved. However, it is too early to comment on specific manipulations.“
On June 13th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Anti-Corruption Public Crime Investigation Unit conducted a search and seizure of the multiplexes CGV, Lotte Cinema, Megabox and the distributors Lotte Entertainment, Showbox, Kidari Studio on charges of obstruction of business.
Together, these movie theaters and distributors are accused of interfering with the work of the Korean Film Council (hereinafter referred to as KOFIC), such as manipulating box office rankings by inflating the number of audiences.
Specific movie names were also mentioned. The films “Emergency Declaration” and “Waiting for Rain” are being suspected of manipulating the number of audiences by methods such as ghost screenings.
In fact, “Emergency Declaration”, which was distributed by Showbox, was suspected of manipulating the number of audiences during a government audit last year. The reason was that the phenomenon of selling out movie tickets in the early morning hours was detected on KOFIC’s Integrated Computer Network in August last year. “Waiting for Rain”, which was distributed by Kidari Studio, was also suspected of counting the number of audiences in the early morning hours, when it was not even screened in theaters.
Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reportedly launched an investigation after seeing the possibility that the number of moviegoers may have been manipulated.
Released in August last year, “Emergency Declaration” is a reality aviation disaster film about an aircraft that is forced to declare an emergency when an unprecedented terror occurs in flight. Song Kang Ho, Lee Byung Hun, Jeon Do Yeon, Kim Nam Gil and Im Si Wan appeared.
“Waiting for Rain” follows the romance between Young Ho (Kang Ha Neul) and So Hee (Chun Woo Hee). The two become each other’s sources of comfort through the connection of a chance letter and make the unlikely promise of meeting up on a rainy December 31st.
Source: Wikitree
