ABSTRACT
Only sensed by few people at the time, the Korean film industry underwent a silent revolution during the late 1990s. Heavily influenced by the gloomy outlook of the film industry for the majority of the 1980s, not many people in Korea were able to promote optimistic observations. By the late 1980s, the Korean film industry had reached a perilous point; dangers escalated and peaked at the end of the decade when international distributor United International Pictures (UIP) finally obtained permission to directly manage the distribution of American films in Korea. Deep fears of the total collapse of Korea's domestic film industry were common at this time. In turn, this fear provoked those in the film industry to protest against government measures, and to protest against foreign distributors in the Korean market, as major profits resulted from the import, distribution, and exhibition of Hollywood produced films. The protests, however, produced little impact and the Korean film market was opened. Nonetheless, this fear subsided in the next few years.
