The multi-billion dollar Korean film industry spans North Korea as well as the South, encapsulating both countries. Only the movies from South Korea have succeeded in creating an impact internationally, however. North Korean films have not done so well globally.

View the trailer for The Mirrors, based on an idea from the South Korean film Into the Mirror.

The Korean industry has evolved over the decades and grown by two hundred to  three hundred percent  from what it was in the year 1993. It grew by more than 6.5 per cent in the year 2010 largely due to increases in ticket prices and the inclusion of 3D cinemas; the top-earning films at the Korean box-office were 3D movies, despite a dip in the number of times the average Korean went to the movies, from 3.15 times to 2.92. The market share of Korean movies is estimated to be around 46.5 per cent, slightly less the U.S at 47.3 per cent in 2010.

The Korean film industry has been in the limelight, bagging nominations and awards such as the Oscars and other internationally acclaimed awards, the latest being Lee Chang-dong’s  Poetry, which won the award for Best Screenplay at the Cannes International Film Festival..

Kim Ki-duk, Kim Ji-woon, Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, and Hong Sang-soo are among the producers whose creative conceptions have been rewarded worldwide at foreign film festivals, and  have become the pride of the Korean industry.

There have been various re-makes of Korean movies in Hollywood. Some of them include highly acclaimed names like The Lake House and the The Mirrors, which evolved from Korean titles. The strong point of Korean movies is their gripping storyline and their ability to captivate the audience by emotionally nudging them into the characters and the storyline.

Bae Yong-joon is the highest-paid actor in the Korean film industry, earning 250 million won or $171,600 per film; next is Park Shin-yang at 155 million won per film), and Park Shin-yang (80 million). Actresses, however, earn less, the highest paid being Ko Hyeon-joung at 35 million won per film.

The big production houses in Korea include names such as Cineclick Asia, C.J.Entertainment, Lotte Entertainment, and iHQ. CJ Entertainment has dominated the distribution market since the last decade. It distributed 44 films in 2010 holding a 27.8 per cent market share. Others include 20th century fox KOREA and Lotte Entertainment.

In 2011, the films which have done well and been declared global hits with recognition from the international community include Sunny, Arrow: The Ultimate Weapon, Detective K, The Crucible and many more. They have each passed the 5- million tickets sold mark and have been declared as smash hits of the year.

The highest-earning film of the year has been Arrow: The Ultimate Weapon, beating Sunny by surpassing 7.8 million tickets.