“Hoping the Election Ends Soon ”

“People aren’t buying books or watching movies. I wish the general election was over with.”

Lately, the culture and art world is complaining that the nation’s interest is centered on the April 15 elections. Only broadcasting stations are enjoying special demands due to the April 15 elections.

“We could endure this through early March thanks to the selling of books for reference, but on the whole, sales have decreased by 20 percent since the beginning of April,” said a marketing manager of internet bookstore “YES 24,” Joo Sae-hoon. The president of the nationwide bookstore network “Booksetong,” Kim Young-beom, said, “Sales in April decreased by approximately 30 percent compared to the beginning of this year,” adding that sales of novels in particular were remarkably reduced, possibly because people think election campaigns are more interesting than novels.

The cinema world is in a similar bind. The movies “Silmido” and “Taegukgi” attracted more than 10 million moviegoers, but other films are having a tough time. According to “Maxmovie,” an internet site for movie ticket booking, the number of bookings decreased drastically by 38.9 percent since March 12 when the presidential impeachment bill was approved. Filmmakers and other people concerned are at a loss with the drastic decrease in the booking rate, which did not occur during the last presidential election of 2002.

Particularly, the area of Jongno, Seoul where movie theaters are congested, and the area of Daehangno where theaters are congested, are suffering a great blow. “It is almost a disaster for us because the young hardly visit movie theaters in Jongno,” said Seo Jeong, a director of Zenith Entertainment, a movie-production company. Nam Ki-woong, the chief director of the performance planning company Moa, complained, “The audience has never been reduced until middle 1990s, even during election season,” adding, “This time, it is harder on us than ever because even the number of sponsors has decreased.”

Is this situation, the theory that popular plays attract more playgoers as the falling of the curtain approaches is collapsing. In the case of “Series of Plays,” presented in Donsoong Art Center, an average of 80 percent of audience seats were occupied until the third week of March, but the number dropped to 50 to 60 percent with the actual start of the election campaign season in the fourth week. A chief of “Series of Plays” bureau said, “People hardly visit theaters because of the flood of interesting events related to general election after the presidential impeachment.”

Musicals are in critical condition as well. An assistant manager of “Ticket Park,” an internet site for ticket booking, analyzed that the tickets sales of March and April decreased by 30 to 40 percent compared to last year.

The artistic community is depressed. “Few works are being sold thanks to the confusing political situation and the inner problems of the artistic community,” said Doh Hyung-tae, the chief manager of Gallery Hyundai.

The rate of ticket sales for the recital of Peter Jablonski, who will visit Korea on the 13th, decreased by 20 to 30 percent compared to his previous recital in Korea.

Meanwhile, only broadcasting is enjoying special demands. A new phrase, “discussion mania,” has recently become popular as illustrated by the viewing rates of discussion programs. According to an audience rating survey company “TNS Media Korea,” the average viewing rate of “Live Midnight Discussion” from KBS1 had been 5.2 percent from February to March 11, before the impeachment bill was approved, but it jumped to 10.1 percent from March 12 to April 8. During same period, the ratings of “Discussion of 100, how do you think?” from KBS2 rose from 3.9 percent to 7.8 percent, and the ratings for “Discussion for 100 minutes” from MBC rose from 4.9 percent to 5.7 percent.

Mun-Myung Huh angelhuh@donga.com