Published July 4, 2021, 6:47 AM (Clockwise from top left) ‘Fast & Furious 9,’ ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie-Mugen Train,’ ‘Soul,’ “Cruella’ and ‘Minari’ (KOFIC) “Fast & Furious 9” emerged as the No. 1 film in South Korea in the first half of 2021 based on data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). For the first half of the year, Korean cinemas sold 20.02 million tickets, down 38 percent from 32.41 million tickets sold in the same period last year. Movies shown in Korea from January to June grossed 186.35 billion won ($164.8 million), compared to 273.8 billion won ($242.14 million) in the same period last year, or a decrease of 31 percent. The cinema industry in Korea has been hit hard by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as social distancing rules prevented movie houses from operating at 100 percent seating capacity.