Korean Police Uncover Alleged Box Office Rigging, 323 Movies Affected

Korean police uncover suspected box office manipulation, affecting 323 films

From a Movieguide® employee

The Seoul Metropolitan Police have identified 69 officers from the country's largest cinema chains and 24 film distributors involved in box office manipulation and fraud over the past five years.

"In cooperation with film distributors, officials at the accused theaters submitted alleged overselling tickets to the Korea Film Board [Kobis] ticket collection service to boost the ratings of films released in their theaters between March 2018 and June this year," Seoul said . said. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, the police said

"The defendant falsely stated that tickets were sold out at certain times of the show and that a total of 2.67 million viewers were counted as a result of the alleged fraud," police added. These inflated ratings inflated the representation of 323 films.

The charges stem from an investigation launched in June after police in Seoul raided the offices of three major South Korean film distributors on suspicion of box office manipulation. The investigations ultimately concerned 24 film distributors, who were recommended to be prosecuted.

According to a report translated by SBS News, these distributors allegedly boosted ticket sales by staging early morning or late evening "ghost shows" and buying large numbers of tickets without an audience.

Variety explains that sky-high box office sales can give a film a short-term boost by leading people to believe it's more popular than it is, which piques audience interest and "turns a failure into a real success." In the long run, these inflated numbers could lead to higher license fees for television and film distribution.

The alleged dealers responded by claiming that the industry practices were more sophisticated than police are giving them credit for.

"To suggest that this type of practice is illegal [for all parties] is ridiculous," said an industry insider. "Some cinemas select and screen films while distributors buy large numbers of seats."

"Market practices aren't so clear," added Oh Dong-jin, a Seoul-based film critic. “The companies organize press screenings, VIP screenings and industry screenings before the film's release. There are many cases where the actual number of participants is less than the places reserved in advance. It is possible that in some cases the company will buy tickets and then cancel them to maintain a certain reserve.

"There should be a system to detect these fraudulent cases, but given the current box office system, you can't point to low-attendance, sold-out shows and call them a crime," Dong-Jin continued.

Films implicated in these allegations include the popular South Korean films EMERGENCY DECLARATION, HOT BLOOD, ENDLESS RAIN and RED HERNING.