In 2004, the New York-based film magazine Film Comment published its first special issue on South Korean cinema, where the issue's editor praised South Korean cinema as ‘one of the greatest renaissances in global filmmaking the world has ever seen.’ Since then, South Korean cinema has made its mark on the map of world cinema. Not only has the Korean film industry reclaimed its domestic audiences from Hollywood, but it has also attracted a large international audience.

What happened in South Korea between the 1990s and the mid-2000s? How did a once ‘invisible’ cinema become one of the world's most influential industries in film so quickly? What impact and influence did South Korean cinema have on its adjacent film industries, such as those of Hong Kong, Japan, and Mainland China? In this roundtable, four internationally renowned film critics will share their memories of the beginning of the South Korean film renaissance and re-examine the place of South Korean cinema within the larger fabric of global cinema, and also the shifts and changes that have been occurring in the country’s film industry and viewership in recent years.