Imminent Opening to Japanese Culture Industry

The government will announce its schedule of opening the market to the Japanese popular culture industry. Korean movie and music industries are naturally uneasy about the intiative to open the door first to Japanese award winning movies and popular musician's concerts.
The film business is the most lucrative field that chaebols as well as importers are hotly competing to gain licensing rights. SKC already acquired the rights for the movies 'Sonatine' and 'Unagi' which won awardes at international film festivals. Hana Media secured the license for 'Paradise Lost', 'Kid's Return', and 'Hanabi'.
Domestic record makers are also trying to secure contracts with major Japanese labels. Seoul Records met with Japanese record makers. Samsung has been negotiating with Japanese production companies for the past year. Daewon has already won the distribution rights for famous Japanese animation films including 'Nausika in the Wind Valley' and 'Laputa'.