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SK Telecom considering move into film industry

SK Telecom, one of Korea's leading telecoms firms, is strongly considering a move into the Korean film industry.

The company announced on June 14 that it is considering setting up a film investment and distribution arm in 2008. Although SKT has already participated in film investment funds and owns a significant share of talent/production houses iHQ and Chungeorahm, the establishment of its own distribution arm would be expected to cause a considerable shakeup in the film industry.

"If we enter the film industry, we will unveil our new businesses from next year, however we have not yet determined the scale of the endeavor", the firm said. "We are also not ruling out the possibility of importing foreign titles in order to establish a distribution lineup".

Nonetheless, SKT stated that it is not considering setting up its own production division.

Currently Korea's distribution sector is dominated by other major conglomerates such as CJ Entertainment, Showbox, and Lotte Entertainment. Although Cinema Service began as a small production company and grew into a major distributor, it is now partly owned by CJ Entertainment.

The primary motive for SK Telecom's interest in the film industry is the need to acquire contents for quickly developing new media products.

"If we invest in a well-made film and it becomes successful, this can provide clear benefits to the expansion of our mobile businesses. Moving into the film sector also signals our intent to build a strong foundation for producing new contents", the firm said.

Darcy Paquet (KOFIC)

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