South Korea to tighten control over trailers shown before children’s films
In South Korea, the media content rating board plans to separately label trailers requiring additional caution and provide this information to cinemas. The decision was made after children were frightened by a trailer featuring a murder scene during a screening of the children’s animated film “Teenieping: Legend of the Whale Heartstone” in Seoul, The Korea Herald reports.
Labels for cinemas
The board held talks with representatives of the film industry, including major multiplex chains. The aim is to prevent trailers unsuitable for children from being shown before children’s films and to ensure a safer environment for young viewers.
The planned mechanism does not change the current trailer age-rating system. Films in South Korea are divided into four categories: suitable for all ages, for viewers aged 12 and over, aged 15 and over, and adults only. At the same time, trailers have only two categories: suitable for all ages and adults only.
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Parents’ reaction
Under the current rules, a trailer for an adults-only film may be shown before a children’s film if the promotional video itself has been edited and approved for all ages. At the screening of “Teenieping,” the trailer depicting a murder had such approval, but reports said some children burst into tears and families left the auditorium.
One mother wrote on the Moms Holic parenting forum that the murder scene on a large screen, together with the sound, was too distressing for her child. According to her, the family spent about 20 minutes calming the child outside the auditorium and missed the beginning of the film.
Lee Seung-sun, a professor of journalism and communication at Chungnam National University, called for more detailed standards for trailers. He noted that cinema visitors choose a specific film, so promotional materials shown before it should match the audience. In the United Kingdom, trailers have the same age categories as films, while in Australia they may advertise only films with the same or a lower age rating.
