Haesori, the only cultural facility in the region
52 out of 81 business closures nationwide last year
Along with the spread of Corona 19, a movie theater in Seoul, which closes at 21:00, with 2.5 stages of social distancing implemented, is also relatively busy without visitors. /yunhap newsIn Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do, a small city with a population of 50,000, there is only one movie theater called’Masil Cinema’. However, even the last movie theater was closed in July due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) last year. The last movie theater in Imsil-gun, with a population of 27,000,’Imsil Hanmadang Little Star Cinema’ was closed last July. An official at Imsil County Office said, “The only movie theater in the county has been closed for several months due to the spread of Corona 19, and we cannot guarantee that it will be able to resume business in the future.”
Local movie theaters have been suffering from Corona 19. As visitors were cut off, even the last cultural facilities of local residents disappeared. As a result of analyzing the statistics of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security on the 26th by the Sangga Information Research Institute, 81 movie theaters were reported to be closed last year across the country. It reached the highest level in 12 years since 2008 (88 locations), which experienced the global financial crisis. Compared to 37 in 2018 and 43 in 2019.
In particular, 64% of movie theaters that were closed were concentrated in local cities (52 locations). Not only Buan and Imsil in Jeonbuk, but also’Byeolbit Cinema’ in Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do’Byeolbit Cinema’ in Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do,’Uljin Small Cinema’ in Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and’Youngyang Small Cinema’ in Yeongyang-gun are also closed last year. On the other hand, two in Seoul and four in Gyeonggi were closed, with 16 and 87 new movie theaters, respectively. After Corona 19, the regional gap in cultural facilities has widened. Hyeon-taek Cho, a researcher at the Commercial Information Research Institute, said, “The movie theater is an enclosed space, and due to relatively strict guidelines such as not sitting one space apart and eating some food, the number of viewers decreased and sales also decreased.” It was postponed indefinitely, and due to the aggravation of the damage, business closures increased.”
However, the movie theater industry was also excluded from the government’s third subsidy. In fact, movie theaters are known to have lost 70% of their sales while maintaining high rents. The Korea Theaters Association issued a statement last month and said, “The government should include movie theaters in support measures related to rent, such as providing tax benefits for rent cuts to property owners in which movie theaters are located.” Considering that, at least until Corona 19 is overcome, please join the Good Landlord Movement.”
The’Byeolbit Cinema’, the only movie theater in Yeongcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do, has been discontinued due to the impact of Corona 19 and a notice is being posted on the website. / Yeongcheon Public Market Byeolbit Cinema Homepage/ Reporter Lee Jae-myeong [email protected]