BUSAN, South Korea, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's largest international film festival ended on Friday, marking major accomplishments in many aspects.

    The 14th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), which kicked off on Oct. 8, ran for nine days, screened 355 films from 70 countries, the largest size in the festival's history.

    "I am glad to announce here the closing of the feast, which obviously crossed the boundary of Asia and grew into one of the most influential film festivals in the world," Kim Dong-ho, director of the festival, said at the closing press conference.

    As well as the record-high number of participating films, world premieres, and visiting celebrity guests, the festival programs were diversified with establishing new awards, such as the Flash Forward, and renewing the Asian Film Market with an online market screening system.

    The press and market participation expanded as well, with a total of 8,658 visiting the PIFF.

    Despite of the remarkable accomplishments, the PIFF saw a decrease in the size of total attendance.

    Amid a fear of the fast-spreading influenza A/H1N1, the movie audience shrank by some 200,000 from the previous year, hitting 173,516.

    "We will do our best to present a more sophisticated, accomplished festival next year," Kim said.