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According to Deputy Prime Minister Jin Nyum, concerned government ministries have launched consultations on ways to cut the government's so-called screen quota. The screen quota system mandates movie theaters in the country to show Korean movies for 146 days a year, triggering criticism from strong movie-exporting nations such as the United States.
The US government, in particular, has been pressing Seoul to reduce the number of Korean movie-only days so that the two countries could sign a bilateral investment treaty as early as possible, saying the screen quota system has been a major stumbling block to the treaty.
Jin, however, dismissed media reports that the government is mulling a cut in the screen quota due to US President George W. Bush's planned visit to the country in the middle of this month.
He said the consultations between and among the ministries have been launched in order to expedite the signing of the bilateral treaty between the two countries to within the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, Jin said that the Ministry of Education is considering offering a military service exemption package to college students majoring in science and engineering. Jin's remarks came after media reports said that science and engineering as a major are unpopular among high school students entering college.
(Kim Ki-hun, khkim@chosun.com )
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