Located on the western coast of the Korean peninsula, about 185 km south of Seoul, Gunsan, a city of 280,000 people, has grown to become a hotbed for film production. In just the last year, a total of 18 films used the scenic city for on-location shooting, including major upcoming 2018 releases such as Psychokinesis, Gate, and DRUG KING. On-location shooting, which has been credited with boosting tourism and revitalizing the local economy, has had such a positive impact on Gunsan and its surrounding region, that local leaders are launching a campaign to attract even more film productions.

In 2017, the city of Gunsan signed a partnership agreement with the Jeonju Film Commission and several months later a location support program was launched. The program, which offers incentives to productions that have budgets over 100 million Korean Won (US $94,000), will offer to productions that choose to shoot in Gunsan. Leaders hope the subsidy provided through the location support project will be used by productions to provide accommodations, facilities and restaurants for crew in the region, returning part of the incentive to the local economy. In addition, the city of Gunsan is setting aside a budget to help execute the location shooting campaign.

"Gunsan has been attracting a lot of attention as a location for shooting movies, so in order to facilitate this, the city will organize a dedicated team to aggressively attract more productions and to provide various support systems,” KIM Bong-gon, Head of the Culture and Arts department, said. “I will try not only to attract tourists, but to also contribute to the regional economy by developing the movie industry."