Yeongwol Booms After "The Man Living with the King" Success... 220,000 More Non-Local Visitors

KCTI Analyzes the Impact of "The Man Living with the King" Box Office Success
Cheongnyeongpo and Danjongjangneung See Visitor Numbers Surge by 640% and 752% Year-on-Year

Following the success of the film "The Man Living with the King," both visitor numbers and consumer spending at key locations in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon Province, have seen a significant increase.

A scene from The King and the Man Who Lives. Showbox

The Korea Culture & Tourism Institute (KCTI) announced on May 1 that it has published the second issue of its KCTI Data Focus series, titled "Changes in Yeongwol Regional Visits and Consumption Driven by the Success of 'The Man Living with the King'," which analyzes the film’s impact on visits to and spending within the Yeongwol area.

As of April 31, the film "The Man Living with the King" had attracted a cumulative audience of approximately 15.67 million and generated about 151.2 billion won in revenue. This marks the third highest audience count and the highest box office revenue in Korean history. Based on an input-output analysis of audience spending, the production inducement effect is estimated at about 1.5883 trillion won, and the value-added inducement effect at approximately 587.5 billion won.

According to KCTI, following the film's release, searches related to "Yeongwol" surged, which translated into actual increases in visitation. In the first quarter of this year, the number of visitors from outside Yeongwol averaged about 17,000 per day, up 17% from the same period last year. In total, this equates to an estimated 220,000 additional visits.

The increase was even more pronounced at Cheongnyeongpo and Danjongjangneung, the film’s principal locations. Visitor numbers at these two tourist attractions skyrocketed by approximately 640% and 752%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. In contrast, attractions not directly related to the film saw only limited increases. KCTI analyzed that the box office effect was concentrated in the film’s main locations rather than spreading across Yeongwol as a whole.

Monthly Visitor Trends at Cheongryeongpo and Danjongjangneung. Data from the Korea Cultural and Tourism Institute "Major Tourist Site Visitor Numbers," Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province (as of April 1, 2026).

Consumer spending also rose. Credit card spending by non-local visitors to Yeongwol between January and March this year reached approximately 17.2 billion won, up 13.2% year-on-year. While spending had fallen by 16.4% compared to the previous year during the four weeks prior to the film’s release, it rebounded with a 27.2% increase in the four weeks after release. The difference in growth rates before and after the release amounts to 43.6 percentage points.

The increase in post-release spending was especially notable among visitors from long-distance regions such as the Seoul metropolitan area and Yeongnam. KCTI explained that this demonstrates how the success of content can create demand for visits to areas experiencing population decline, overcoming physical distance barriers.

Hwang Gyoik, President of KCTI, stated, "This is a case that confirms, through the analysis of mobility, consumption, and viewing data, that media content based on regional historical and cultural resources can drive visits and consumption in areas with declining populations." He added, "The institute will continue to analyze local conditions using data to provide policy decision support in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.