The four-Oscar win by "Parasite" at the U.S. Academy Awards in 2020 was voted the top news in Korean film history in a survey conducted by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) to mark its 50th anniversary. (Screen capture from KOFIC's official Facebook account)

By Yoon Sojung

The four-Oscar win by director Bong Joon-ho's masterpiece "Parasite" in 2020 has been voted the top news in domestic film history.

In an online survey on the top 10 headlines in the nation's movie history conducted from March 13-19 by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on its Facebook and Instagram accounts to mark KOFIC's 50th anniversary, 1,042 of 7,615 respondents picked the film's victory at the 92nd Academy Awards as the nation's top news in cinema.

"'Parasite' won Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Feature and Best Original Screenplay," the council said. "This was the first time in the Academy's history for a film not in English to win Best Picture." 

No. 2 was the same film in 2019 winning the Palme d'Or Prize, the top award of the Cannes Film Festival, with 651 votes.

Third was the centennial anniversary of Korean cinema in 2019, fourth the country's adoption of its screen quota system in 1966 and fifth the launch of the Busan International Film Festival in 1996. 

Sixth was actor Youn Yuh-jung in 2021 being the first Korean to earn the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Minari," seventh the 1926 release of the silent film "Arirang" directed by Na Woon-gyu and birth of the nation's first "world star," the late actor Kang Soo-yeon, in 1987 thanks to her Best Actress win at the Venice International Film Festival for her role in "The Surrogate Woman."

The council also simultaneously conducted another survey on KOFIC's top 10 news. Atop the list was the 1973 launch of the Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corp., KOFIC's predecessor in charge of devising a model for devising government-led film policy such as support for movie production, distribution and exports.

No. 2 was the 1999 launch of the private-sector-led Korean Film Commission, which was later turned into KOFIC in 2004. The commission raised autonomy in movie production by abolishing the registration system for film businesses and liberalizing the production of indie cinema.

No. 3 was the 1984 formation of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), which is considered the birthplace of some 700 famous filmmakers including directors Bong, Choi Dong-hoon and Hur Jin-Ho.

Marking its 50th anniversary, 40th of KAFA and 10th of its relocation to Busan, KOFIC said, "We will reboot for another 100 years as an innovative platform that generates future value for Korean cinema."

arete@korea.kr