Murder scene before ‘Teenieping’ film? Ratings board steps up review of trailers for young audiences

After a violent movie trailer frightened children at a screening of "Teenieping: Legend of the Whale Heartstone" in Seoul last month, South Korea's film-rating authority is taking steps to prevent age-inappropriate trailers from being shown before children's films.

According to local media reports Wednesday, the Korea Media Rating Board plans to separately identify trailers requiring extra caution and share the information with theater operators.

The decision came after the board held talks with film industry representatives, including major multiplex chains, to discuss ways to prevent similar incidents and ensure a safe viewing environment for young audiences.

The measure, however, does not change Korea's relatively broad rating system for movie trailers. While movies are classified into four age categories — all ages, 12 and older, 15 and older, and adults only — trailers are subject to only two ratings, all ages and adults only. As a result, a trailer for an adults-only film can be shown before a children's movie if the trailer itself is edited and approved for all ages.

At the "Teenieping" screening, a trailer depicting a person being killed, despite being cleared for all ages, reportedly left some children in tears, prompting some families to step outside the theater.

"The killing scene on the huge screen, along with the sound, was overwhelming. My child was crying so much that we had to step outside for about 20 minutes to calm down, and we ended up missing the beginning of the movie," a mother wrote on Moms Holic, Korea’s largest online parenting forum.

Some experts are calling for more age-specific standards for movie trailers, citing stricter approaches adopted in other countries.

In the United Kingdom, trailers are subject to the same age-based rating categories as films. These range from U for all audiences and PG, which recommends parental guidance, to 12A, which allows children under 12 only when accompanied by an adult, and 15 and 18, which restrict viewing to those aged 15 and 18 or older, respectively.

In Australia, trailers can only promote films with the same or a lower age rating than the movie being shown.

"Unlike television, where content is broadcast to a broad audience, moviegoers choose a specific film to see, making the intended audience relatively clear. More detailed standards are needed to ensure that advertisements and trailers shown before a film are appropriate for the audience that came to see it," said Lee Seung-sun, a professor of journalism and communication at Chungnam National University.

"Teenieping: Legend of the Whale Heartstone" is a theatrical adaptation of SAMG Entertainment's animated series "Catch! Teenieping," released in August. The series, which debuted in 2020, has become popular among young children in South Korea and has developed an overseas following.