Revenue from S. Korean performing arts soars in 2019

All News 10:17 December 27, 2019

SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- The aggregated revenue from South Korean performing arts soared in 2019 from a year earlier on rising demand for big-budget musicals, data showed Friday.

The South Korean performance market posted a total of 226.9 billion (US$195.3 million) in sales from January to December, according to the data from the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS).

The 2019 numbers rose sharply from an estimated 83.3 billion won in revenue tallied a year ago.

About 11,000 shows and performances of musicals, plays and classical concerts drew 8 million people this year.

Musicals were the most popular performing arts in Korea, with 162.5 billion won in revenue accounting for 71.6 percent of the total sales.

People bought 28.3 billion won worth of tickets for theatrical plays in 2019, while classical concerts and dances earned 18.3 billion won and 11 billion won, respectively.

The KOPIS data also showed that musical "Rebecca," based on the novel of the same name, sold the most tickets in December, followed by Broadway musicals "Aida" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Led by the cultural ministry, the KOPIS was launched in late June to create a database of ticket sales and productions for theater plays, musicals, classical concerts and various other non-cinematic shows.