Nearly 100 million movie tickets were sold at cinemas in the first half of this year, with more than half of them seeing Korean films, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday.

Inspired by the record-breaking number, the authorities have been pushing a number of policies to support the local filmmaking industry, including subsidies, stipulation of fair contracts and encouragement of exports.

According to the ministry, the number of cinemagoers marked 98.5 million between January and June this year, generating 724.1 billion won ($638.6 million) in sales. Those watching Korean films marked 55.5 million, or 56.4 percent of the entire number. This represents a 25 percent rise from 44.4 million in the same period last year.

Despite observers previously suggesting that the market was saturated, the film market boom was due largely to a number of blockbusters that drew more than 10 million people to the cinema.

Korean films “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” “Berlin,” “Secretly Greatly,” “New World,” “Man on the Edge” and “Tower” attracted 12.8 million, 7.1 million, 6.6 million, 4.6 million, 3.8 million and 3.1 million viewers, respectively. Hollywood films “Iron Man 3,” “World War Z,” “Les Miserables” and “Man of Steel” lured 9 million, 3.1 million, 5.9 million (3.2 million from December 2012) and 2.1 million moviegoers, respectively.

“Thanks to the increased use of IPTV and digital cable TV services providing video-on-demand, more Hollywood films targeting the video market are expected to be exported to Korea. It is truly a Renaissance for the film industry,” a ministry official said Tuesday when announcing the figures.

The government has also stepped up to support the industry. A 15 billion won fund will be created later this year, aimed at supporting independent films with budgets less than 400 million won and mid-sized films with less than 3 billion won. More than 40 percent of the fund should be designated to boost small films, the ministry said.

Earlier this year, filmmakers, at the behest of the government, agreed to adopt a standardized contract for their workers including screenwriters. Those who break the rules cannot receive investment from the government, which is crucial for many of the productions.

“We are seeing a slew of blockbusters being released in the latter half of the year, including ‘Snowpiecer,’ ‘Mr. Go’ and ‘Pacific Rim.’ It seems that the Korean film market will keep growing and we are hoping that the industry will continue its upturn,” a ministry official said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)