[3rd Supplementary Budget] 339.9 Billion KRW Invested in Expanding Culture, Arts, Tourism Jobs and Discount Coupons

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 3rd that it has allocated 339.9 billion KRW in the third supplementary budget of 2020 to overcome the employment crisis caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and to boost the economy. The supplementary budget will be used to expand public jobs in fields such as culture, arts, and tourism, and to support discount consumption coupons for related sectors including performances, movies, exhibitions, and accommodations.

◆ 169.9 billion KRW allocated to expand jobs by sector= A total of 169.9 billion KRW has been allocated to help workers in the culture, arts, and tourism industries, which have been contracted due to COVID-19, to secure jobs. Through the 'Public Art Project,' 8,436 artists and creators will install murals, sculptures, and other artworks in community facilities, welfare centers, and plazas nationwide to help local residents enjoy culture. Additionally, 3,000 performing arts personnel will be hired and dispatched to cultural and artistic organizations to aid recovery from damages in the theater, musical, music, and dance industries and to address labor shortages.

Projects for safe travel and safe performance viewing after COVID-19 will also be promoted. A total of 6,441 quarantine guards will support disinfection work at 2,147 major tourist sites nationwide, and one quarantine guard will be assigned to each of the 537 small-scale performance venues with fewer than 500 seats across the country.

Furthermore, the budget will be invested in a nationwide survey of travel agencies ▲ cultural arts education resource survey ▲ digitization of materials held by regional literary museums ▲ collection and digitization of art materials ▲ digitization of animation materials ▲ non-face-to-face services such as book delivery loans from public libraries ▲ and online monitoring of illegal reproductions at home to digitize materials by sector and support the activation of non-face-to-face services and jobs.

◆ 71.6 billion KRW allocated to boost consumption through coupon issuance= A total of 71.6 billion KRW will be invested in discount coupons for six major sectors including performances, exhibitions, movies, accommodations, tourism, and sports facilities, providing discount benefits to 6.88 million citizens. When booking exhibitions, performances, or movies on online sites, consumers can receive discount coupons ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 KRW. When booking accommodations online, discount coupons worth 30,000 to 40,000 KRW can also be obtained.

When prepaying for tourism products selected as 'Excellent Domestic Tourism Products,' a 30% discount will be provided. If paying for indoor sports facility usage fees, 30,000 KRW will be reimbursed, and efforts will be made to revitalize the use of private sports facilities whose operations have been restricted due to social distancing. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained, "The discount coupons are a policy to maximize the recovery speed of each industry facing difficulties and will be implemented in full after the COVID-19 spread has been contained."

◆ 64 billion KRW for the 'Korean New Deal' project= A supplementary budget of 64 billion KRW will be invested in the 'Korean New Deal' to prepare for the spread of non-face-to-face and online culture after COVID-19. Through the 'Online Media Arts Activities' support project, about 2,700 artists will be supported with an average production cost of 5 million KRW per person to present and communicate their works online. The 'Sports Remote Coaching Market Development' project will also be promoted. This project helps private sports personnel such as health and yoga instructors to move away from traditional face-to-face classes and enter the non-face-to-face sports market. It will train 600 specialized remote sports instructors and support business costs for producing and distributing exercise videos directly.

Plans are also in place to allocate related budgets to the 'Green New Deal,' which involves constructing 'National Sports Centers,' everyday life sports facilities, using eco-friendly materials and designs.

In addition, to support the creative activities of artists affected by the spread of COVID-19, 3,260 artists will receive 3 million KRW each as creative preparation funds, and 100 sports companies facing financial difficulties will be provided with loans of 200 million KRW each. A total of 34.4 billion KRW will be invested in sector-specific recovery support. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "To secure supplementary budget resources, we adjusted the expenditure structure and saved 188.3 billion KRW, which is about 3% of this year's budget (6.4803 trillion KRW). We will do our best to expedite the execution of the supplementary budget to overcome the crisis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.