Coronavirus spreads through Korea's entertainment industry

From left: A poster for films "Seobok," "Life is Beautiful," and ceremony "The 41st Blue Dragon Awards." [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Scheduled movie releases and end-of-the-year awards ceremonies are being pushed back as more people within the entertainment industry test positive for the coronavirus.

The musical film "Life is Beautiful," starring actors Yum Jung-ah and Ryu Seung-ryong, was supposed to be released this month. It will be postponed to next year, The Lamp, the film's production company, announced on Tuesday.

The 41st Blue Dragon Awards, which was scheduled to take place at Paradise City in Incheon on Friday, has also been pushed back to early next year, the ceremony organizer announced Tuesday.

“Due to the recent explosive increase in the number of confirmed cases, we inevitably postpone the award ceremony as the safety of the filmmakers comes first,” the official from the Blue Dragon Awards organizing committee said.

The release of the highly anticipated sci-fi action film “Seobok,” starring Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum, was also pushed back yesterday without any fixed date.

After a series of celebrities including singers Chungha and Lee Chan-won were confirmed positive, music and movie stars who have contacted the singers are in the process of getting Covid-19 tests.

Meanwhile, girl group members who made close contacts with Chungha last week — Gugudan's Mina, DIA's Jung Chae-yeon and WJSN's Yeonjung and Twice’s Sana — said that they tested negative for the coronavirus on Tuesday. The rest of the members of WJSN and Twice who made contacts with Yeonjung and Sana also tested negative.

BY KIM YEON-AH [kim.yeonah@joongang.co.kr]