SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA -- South Koreans reacted with rare collective joy Monday after director Bong Joon Ho鈥檚 鈥淧arasite鈥� won the Oscar for best picture and three other awards, good news that came as their country struggles to guard against a new virus and counter North Korea鈥檚 nuclear threat.

The movie鈥檚 wins made history in both the Hollywood and South Korean film industries. The class satire is the first non-English-language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards, and is the first South Korean movie to ever win an Oscar.

鈥淐an you believe that 鈥榩arasite鈥� won the Academy best picture?鈥� South Korea鈥檚 biggest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, said in a headline. 鈥淚t rewrote the Academy鈥檚 92-year-old history.鈥�

Bong, 鈥淧arasite鈥� and other Oscar-related news dominated search terms throughout Monday at major internet portal sites, which had been preoccupied with the outbreak of a virus in China that has killed more than 900 people and sickened tens of thousands of others, mainly in China.

Worries about the virus have been growing in South Korea, where 27 cases have been reported, though no deaths have occurred. Sales at tour agencies, restaurants, movie theaters and department stores have sharply declined, raising worries about the impact on South Korea鈥檚 already-lagging economy. Opposition parties are accusing the government of ineffectiveness in coping with the outbreak.

But the concerns about the virus and political warfare paused Monday to celebrate Bong鈥檚 wins.

鈥淚t鈥檚 happy news, like welcome rain, to the Republic of Korea, which is depressed, stagnant and thrown into despair due to Wuhan pneumonia,鈥� the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said in a statement. Wuhan is the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak.

South Korean social media were overwhelmed with congratulatory messages.

President Moon Jae-in tweeted that he is proud of Bong and his staff and 鈥減articularly grateful to them for giving courage and pride to our people who are overcoming difficulties.鈥�

Moon and his advisers began a regularly scheduled meeting by clapping their hands to celebrate Bong鈥檚 wins.

At Bong鈥檚 alma mater, Seoul鈥檚 Yonsei University, students belonging to a school movie club watched the Academy Award ceremony together.

鈥淚t鈥檚 deeply meaningful for Korean movies and this will open the path for further development. It鈥檚 such a great honor. I鈥檓 speechless,鈥� said Kim Nam-hoon, 21.

Jeong Ho-cheol, a 26-year-old student, praised Bong for pleasing both movie critics and crowds. 鈥淗is way of dealing with the underside of Korean society and problems such as rich-poor gaps and the way he expresses those issues are very expressive,鈥� he said.

Park Chan-wook, a prominent South Korean movie director who is regarded as Bong鈥檚 main rival at home, joined the congratulations.

It is a 鈥渉uge blessing to work in the same industry as a person as talented as Bong and being able to call him a friend,鈥� said Park, who won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for 鈥淥ldboy,鈥� in an interview with the Munhwa Ilbo newspaper.

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Associated Press writers Juwon Park and Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.