Anchor: Korean films sold more than 55 million tickets in the year's first half for the first time ever. Ticket sales well eclipsed the population of South Korea, a jump one local film council official says is simply due to the popularity of the movies.    
Kim Soyon has more.
 
Report: The South Korean movie industry set a record in the year's first half as more than 55-point-five million people flocked to domestic box offices.
 
The Korean Film Council explains the jump is up 25 percent or more than eleven million tickets sold during the same six months last year.
 
Combined, foreign and domestic films drew over 98-point-five million moviegoers, up more than 18 percent higher from last year’s record of 83-point-two million.
 
Total movie revenue also rose 12-point-seven percent year-on-year to 724 billion won. Sales of Korean films grew over 67 billion to reach 399 billion won in the first half.
 
A Korean film council official attributed the popularity of Korean films simply to the high quality of the movies, saying the council isn’t aware of any other factors. 
 
Among the top ten box office hits, six were Korean, including the most watched "Miracle in Cell No. 7." The low-budget film drew an audience of 12-point-eight million. The top five also included Korean spy-thriller "The Berlin File" and action-comedy "Secretly Greatly." Hollywood blockbuster "Iron Man 3" was the only film from overseas to breach the top five.
 
While Korean movies on the big screen continue to compete fiercely against traditional Hollywood superheroes, the government said it won’t forget about the little guys. It said it will support the building of small theaters and increase investment for low-budget art films and independent films by creating a ten-billion won fund. 
 
Kim Soyon, KBS World Radio News.