One of the aspects of Korean cinema which strikes people the most once they become acquainted with it, is the highly sophisticated level of the production values. From a technical standpoint, Korean films are often on par or even above their Hollywood counterparts: cinematography, sound, production design, editing, and even special effects are deftly handled with skill and care. Wondering how this is the case for a national industry that had been until relatively recently a marginal one is a worthwhile question. The answer therein lies in examining how a cultural and economic climate fostered this type of change.
During the intense state-driven globalization of a newly democratized Korea in the 1990s, which was known as seghewha, the cultural sector was heavily promoted. With the creation of a few different motion picture laws that, among other things, provided tax breaks for investment in the film industry, the chaebol, which were large corporations such as Daewoo and Samsung, got involved in film production. Just as you would modernize any other industry, the film industry’s production standards had to be quickly brought up to speed due in large part to the chaebol’s injection of significant amounts of capital. However, it wasn’t just money that led to today’s technical proficiency. I would argue that perhaps more than anything, it was the education of a skilled below-the-line workforce that contributed to the phenomenon.
