10% of Korean Films Lost, OTT Content Left Unprotected

Min Hyungbae: "Urgent Need for Complete Overhaul of Legal Deposit System and Film Law"

Min Hyungbae, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Min Hyungbae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Gwangsan-eul in Gwangju, criticized the dire reality of Korean film heritage preservation during the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee audit on October 23.

Min stated, "While we boast of a 300 trillion won K-culture era, our film heritage is disappearing." He pointed out, "One out of every ten Korean films produced over the past 100 years has been permanently lost, and rapidly growing OTT content is left outside the legal preservation system, making it urgent to devise countermeasures."

According to data titled ‘Status of Legal Deposit and Holdings of Korean Films’ submitted to Min by the Korean Film Archive, out of 15,055 Korean films produced between 1919 and 2024, only 13,472 are currently preserved. The remaining 1,583 films have no surviving film prints, effectively rendering them ‘lost films’ that can no longer be viewed.

Notably, early masterpieces that marked significant milestones in Korean film history have been lost in large numbers, including Na Woonkyu’s ‘Arirang’ (1926), Lee Kyuhwan’s ‘A Ferry Boat That Has No Owner’ (1932), Lee Manhee’s ‘Late Autumn’ (1966), and Im Kwontaek’s ‘Weeds’ (1973). As a result, there are no surviving works from before 1933. This unfilled gap in film history is not merely a loss of archival materials, but also signals the erosion of Korea’s cultural archetypes for future generations.

The core issue is that current laws and systems are failing to keep pace with the changing media environment. Under the current ‘Act on the Promotion of Motion Pictures and Video Products,’ the mandatory legal deposit system applies only to films screened in movie theaters.

Therefore, content produced and distributed via OTT platforms is classified as ‘video products’ and is not required to be submitted to the Korean Film Archive. This paradoxically excludes even globally influential K-content, such as Bong Joonho’s ‘Okja’ (2017) and Hwang Donghyuk’s ‘Squid Game’ (2021), from the state-led official preservation system.

Min emphasized, "While we talk about a 300 trillion won K-culture era, the very foundation of that content-film-is disappearing." He stressed the urgent need for a complete overhaul of the mandatory deposit system and revisions to the related law to encompass new forms of production, including OTT content.