South Korea clocked a 41.9% increase in box office revenue in the first half of 2026, according to figures released today by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), driven by local hits including The King’s Warden, Colony and Salmokji: Whispering Water. KOFIC figures reveal that overall box office from January to June 2026 reached $396.6M (KRW579BN), compared to $279M (KRW408BN) in the same period last year. Korean films powered the recovery with a whopping 81.7% year-on-year increase in revenue to $254M (KRW370.2BN) and a 74.9% increase in admissions to 37.37 million. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, revenue for Korean films recovered to 94.2% of the average during the first halves of 2017–2019 (KRW392.9BN). A24’s Backrooms was the highest-grossing indie film among both local and foreign releases with $8.5M (KRW12.4BN) in revenue and 1.16 million admissions.