Answer: In June, 1903, at the warehouse in Hanseong Electric Company located
in Dongdaemun
Scholars of Korean film history hold different views about the first movie shown in Korea based on different theories and evidences. The range runs from 1897 to 1095, where film history scholar Park Nu-weol insists on 1904, Lee Cheong-gi on 1903, Lee Yeong-il on 1903, and Jo Hee-mun on the late 1890’s. Despite these differences in opinions, there is data that most scholars agree on when it comes to the first commercial film released to the public. It is an ad that appears in the Hwangseong Daily, on June 23rd, 1903. (The moving picture presentation in the warehouse of the electric company in Dongdaemun takes place everyday from 8-10 P.M., except on Sundays and rainy days. Come enjoy the breath-taking scenes of the people, the city, and the theaters of Joseon and America. 10 copper cents to enter.)
If movies were already popular enough to place advertisements in the daily paper, we may infer that movies had been around for quite a while in various forms and ways. But since this is just an assumption, it would be safe to say that with reference to definite data, this is the first record of public film screening. The officially recognized record of the world’s first film premiere took place February 10th, 1895, when the Lumiere brothers screened to the public at the Grand Cafe in France, and Joseon’s first film screening took place not even a decade after this.
Then why did an electric company show movies? This electric company was Seoul Electric Company and was in charge of the trams in the capital, running from Seodamun to Hongreung. The film screening seems to be a part of their marketing strategy to gain publicity for their tram service which was in its initial stages and attract more passengers. This led to a continuous stream of similar film screenings in such unofficial theaters and those that were popular became official establishments around the year 1910. With the signing of Eulsa Treaty in 1905, Japanese were able to traverse in and out of Joseon freely and built a sizeable Japanese town centered around Namchon around 1910. Temporary theaters with regular movie schedules sprang up for the benefit of these Japanese audiences in 1910. Among these were ‘Gyeongseong High Entertainment Theater (opened in February, 1910), Daejeong Theater (November, 1912), and Hwanggeum Theater (January, 1913). And in 1912, the well-known Wumi Theater finally began screening films for Joseon citizens and in 1918, Danseong Theater was revamped into a movie theater. With this, Wumi Theater and Danseong Theater became the two biggest theaters for Joseon people living in Seoul. |
