Korea's theater industry is booming. Experts say it won't last.

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Korea's theater industry is booming. Experts say it won't last.

Published: 11 Feb. 2025, 13:15 Updated: 11 Feb. 2025, 15:53

LEE JIAN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A scene from the ongoing musical ″Aladdin″ at Charlotte Theatre in Songpa District, southern Seoul [S&CO]

Forty-four-year-old Kim Su-ji scrapped her plan to see the musical “Aladdin” in Seoul with her teenage daughter during the recent Lunar New Year after realizing she’d have to break the bank for tickets, which would cost around 400,000 won ($276) for the two of them.

“I enjoyed the movie version of Aladdin and was really looking forward to seeing the musical, but I was torn when I saw how expensive the tickets were,” she said. “It felt like they jumped by 20,000 or 30,000 won overnight.”

Kim isn’t imagining it. Tickets to live performances have become drastically more expensive since the Covid-19 pandemic as the public embarks on a suppressed spending spree that economists have dubbed “revenge spending.”

The Royal Ballet performs ″The Nutcracker″ in a cinema relay performance at the beginning of its festive run at The Royal Opera House in London, Britain, on Dec. 5, 2022. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The average cost of attending such performances, including musicals, concerts, dance shows and plays, jumped 2.9 percentage points in the fourth quarter of last year from the same period of 2023 — outpacing consumer prices, which rose just 1.6 percent, according to Statistics Korea.

While ticket sales slowed down at the beginning of last year, which is typically a slow time for the entertainment industry, prices ended up surging 5.9 percent from its first through third quarters.

In raw numbers, tickets that cost 150,000 won before the pandemic are now going for 160,000 or 170,000 won today, with some predicting they will soon surpass 200,000 won.

The most expensive seat for the ongoing “Aladdin” production currently costs 190,000 won, while other large-scale musicals like “Jekyll and Hyde” and “The Man Who Laughs” are priced at 170,000 won.

According to Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS), seats priced at more than 150,000 won made up 10 percent of available tickets in 2024. In the fourth quarter alone, that share rose to 13 percent.

J-Hope sings in Disney+'s documentary ″j-hope IN THE BOX″ (2023). The singer is slated to kick off his world tour ″Hope on the Stage″ on Feb. 28 [DISNEY+]

Tickets can be even pricier for limited runs of K-pop concerts or famous international ballet performances. For example, BTS member J-Hope’s three-day Seoul stop of his first world tour, beginning Feb. 28, is priced as high as 220,000 won. Tickets to the British Royal Ballet’s “The First Gala” in Seoul this summer will cost 280,000 won.

Even plays, typically less expensive than other performances, are now nearing 100,000 won. Ongoing plays “Death of a Salesman” and “Our Little Sister” charge up to 88,000 won, while last year’s “Angels in America,” featuring stars like Go Joon-hee and Yoo Seung-ho, cost over 100,000 won.

A scene from the ongoing play ″Death of a Salesman″ at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno District, central Seoul [JOONGANG ILBO]

Even such seemingly incremental price increases can be a deal breaker for potential audiences — particularly Korea's dedicated theatergoers, a niche group of young, mostly female audiences who often see the same show multiple times to support their favorite actors. This unique aspect of Korean theater culture is a crucial pillar of support to a famously volatile industry, but many of its adherents feel their psychological price limits are being pushed.

Yoon Ki-joo, a 43-year-old salaried worker, is one such theater fan, but she has recently grown more hesitant to continue her usual consumption patterns.

“I’ve really enjoyed watching the same show two or three times, but the rising prices are making it harder for me to see the show over and over,” she said. “Now, I’m paying closer attention to reviews and casting lists to make sure I’m seeing it with actors I enjoy.”

An industry insider, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the growing concern among patrons. “It’s clear that our most loyal audience members are much more sensitive to ticket prices now. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to convince people who feel the pressure of rising prices to attend our shows.”

And while the price hikes reflect a booming industry, the outlook for 2025 is considerably dimmer.

The weakening won, which hit a two-year low in December, is impacting production houses that need to wire money abroad to secure and stage licensed shows — an important portion of the performances staged annually. Additionally, the recent political tensions surrounding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration and his ongoing impeachment trials are dampening spending nationwide.

A scene from the musical ″Cyrano,″ currently running the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District, southern Seoul [OD COMPANY]

Experts predict that interest in the performing arts will decline this year, and possibly for the next several years.

“We do not expect robust spending on the arts this year, and possibly over the next decade,” Sejong Center for the Performing Arts CEO Ahn Ho-sang told the press last week. “Consumers will likely prioritize spending on trusted, high-value experiences more than before.”

Hints of a wilting sector are starting to appear, empirically, as well.

KOPIS reported that the total number of tickets to musicals in 2024 increased 1.3 percent to 465 billion won from the year prior, but overall ticket sales decreased 2.4 percent to 7.84 million.

Korea isn’t the only country experiencing a price rise in show tickets. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that tickets to music and sports events are also growing more expensive across the globe, coining the trend “funflation.”

Won Jong-won, a professor in the Department of Performing Arts and Media Arts at Soonchunhyang University, said that the performing arts industry needs to reassess its profit structure.

“The industry needs to reduce its reliance on star actors, make productions more competitive and lower costs by extending the runs. Governments should also help create conditions for price reductions rather than leaving the issue solely to producers.”

BY HA NAM-HYUN, LEE JIAN [[email protected]]