Movie Mania
From Japan to Uzbekistan, Korea mania is sweeping Asia. Music, movies and especially TV dramas from South Korea have become the region's new pop culture. In Japan, middle-aged women almost rioted when the star of one popular Korean drama visited. Across Asia, locals are glued to their TVs when the latest episodes from Seoul are aired.
That's big business for South Korea, whose movie industry alone made $70 million from exports last year, up from a mere $209,000 a decade earlier. That's not counting the even larger sales of TV dramas. Or other economic benefits, such as the hundreds of thousands of package tourists who have flocked to South Korea to see the shooting locations.
So it would be nice to think that all this would be enough to make South Korea's movie industry embrace the benefits of free trade. Think again. Last weekend, several of the country's top actors and actresses took to the streets of Seoul to lead a crowd of 3,000 opposed to the government's easing of quota restrictions on foreign movies.
Never mind that South Korea's movie industry is doing even better at home -- making the quota restrictions irrelevant. From July 1, the country's cinemas are required to show local movies for only 20% of the year, down from a previous official 40% requirement. But since South Korean movies captured 58% of the domestic market last year, that's hardly likely to make much difference.
The critics claim it's a point of principle. "Culture is a matter of national sovereignty and shouldn't be part of trade talks," Jonathan Kim, president of the Korean Motion Picture Producers Association told us. Their real target is Hollywood, specifically the Free Trade Agreement now under negotiation between the U.S. and South Korea. Both sides are trying to strike a deal by year's end, and the screen quota changes were a concession by Seoul toward that goal.
The movie industry joins a long list of vested interests seeking to derail the FTA. South Korean farmers disrupted a recent round of negotiations and unionists have vowed to bring hundreds of thousands onto the streets next week. These other groups have a vested interest in protectionism. Some Korean farmers, for instance, would be wiped out if Seoul gives in to U.S. demands to open up the country's rice market. South Korea's movie industry, by contrast, has more to gain from free trade.
Korea mania has already prompted a backlash in some countries. China banned any further screenings of Korean movies this year. In Taiwan, government officials recently proposed barring foreign soap operas from prime-time TV slots. By demanding protectionism at home, the Korean film industry has put itself in a weak position to fight against such protectionist measures elsewhere in Asia.
韩国影视业保护主义升温
从日本到乌兹别克斯坦，“韩流”正在席卷亚洲。韩国音乐、电影特别是电视剧已经成为亚洲地区最新的流行文化。在日本，当备受欢迎的韩国电视剧明星到该国访问时，那里的中年妇女们几乎为之疯狂。当韩国最新的电视剧开始播放时，亚洲各国的观众守在电视前寸步不离。
双语阅读
? Movie Mania这对韩国来说确实是笔大买卖。仅韩国电影业去年就从电影出口中赚到7,000万美元，远远高于十年前的209,000美元。这个数字还没有包括惊人的电视剧销售额。当然其他经济效益也没算在内，比如，为了亲眼目睹电视剧的拍摄地点，每年都有成千上万的游客涌向韩国。
按理说，上述种种实惠理应促使韩国电影业拥抱自由贸易，但实则不然。上周末，数位韩国顶级演员带领3,000余民众走上首尔街头，抗议该国政府放宽外国电影配额限制。
韩国电影业在国内市场的表现更加出色，这使配额限制似乎不那么重要。根据新规定，从7月1日开始，韩国影院上映本国电影的天数占全年天数的比例将从之前的40%削减至20%。但韩国电影去年在国内市场的占有率高达58%，这个新规定似乎根本不会产生太大的影响。
批评人士称这是一个原则问题。韩国电影制作人协会(Korean Motion Picture Producers Association)主席金亨骏(Jonathan Kim)告诉我们：“文化事关国家主权，不应该成为贸易谈判的一部分。”韩国电影人真正抗议的目标是好莱坞，更具体一点来说是美国和韩国正在商谈的自由贸易协定(Free Trade Agreement)。双方努力在今年年底前达成协议，韩方将电影配额的变化作为迈向这个目标所作的让步。
韩国有很多既得利益团体努力阻挠自由贸易协定的谈判进程，现在电影业也加入了这个行列。韩国农民使最新一轮谈判中断，工会组织宣称下周将组织上万人走上街头进行抗议。这些团体都是贸易保护措施的受益者。比如，如果韩国政府屈服于美国的要求而开放大米市场，一些韩国农民将无法谋生。与此相反，韩国电影业能够从自由贸易中获得更多的好处。
“韩流”已经在一些国家和地区招来抵制措施。中国已禁止今年再播放任何韩国电影。在台湾，政府官员最近提议禁止在电视黄金时段播放外国肥皂剧。韩国电影业要求国内实行保护主义，这使它在对抗其他亚洲国家的保护主义措施时处在一个非常不利的地位。
