Government Simultaneously Promotes Daily Life Recovery and Hallyu Expansion Through Content

Content Industry Promotion Committee Announces COVID-19 Overcoming Content Industry Innovation Strategy
Focus on Daily Life Recovery Through Culture and Activation of Hallyu Outbound
Restoration of Nam June Paik's Masterpiece 'Dadaikseon' "An Opportunity to Spread the Meaning of Recovery"

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is delivering a keynote speech at the 7th Content Industry Promotion Committee held at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The government is launching various cultural projects aimed at overcoming COVID-19 and restoring daily life. On the 3rd, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum chaired the 7th Content Industry Promotion Committee at the National Museum of Korea, where they reviewed and approved the "COVID-19 Overcoming Content Industry Innovation Strategy," which includes measures for COVID-19 response and the expansion of the Korean Wave (Hallyu). The promotion strategies consist of four pillars: ▲ Restoring daily life through culture ▲ Strengthening digital capabilities in the content industry ▲ Innovating the content industry ecosystem ▲ Activating Hallyu outbound. The plan is to address various challenges to accelerate the restoration of daily life and solidify the foundation of Hallyu.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is presiding over the 7th Content Industry Promotion Committee held at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Restoring daily life through culture focuses on recording and sharing. Programs such as "Visiting Public Art," "Art Prescription," and humanities healing programs will provide opportunities for the public to enjoy culture. Next month, an immersive content experience space called "Gwanghwashidae" will be established, and a Culture and Arts Week will be held in the first half of next year to convey messages of recovery and hope. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official explained, "We plan to record the changed daily life due to COVID-19 through art to heal scars and hold cultural events that announce the restoration of daily life to spread hope." A budget of 4.7 billion KRW will be invested in recording, data collection, and management. Numerous national art organizations and young artists will participate in performance and exhibition programs. The ministry will also restore Nam June Paik’s representative work "Dadaikseon" in the first half of next year. The official said, "It is the largest media art in Korea that sublimates participation and communication into art, and we will promote it as a global media project to spread the meaning of recovery."

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum (second from the left) is visiting the Digital Immersive Video Hall at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd, viewing immersive content. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The plan to strengthen digital capabilities in the content industry consists of four parts: fostering extended virtual worlds (metaverse) and immersive content, supporting art and technology convergence creation and production, expanding research and development (R&D) investment in culture, sports, and tourism, and launching the Culture, Sports and Tourism Technology Promotion Center. Next year, the government will invest 16.1 billion KRW in virtual content production support, 1.9 billion KRW in building the Hallyu content virtual experience space "K-Meta World" and creating synergy, and 1.9 billion KRW in implementing virtual spaces for Korean tourism and providing experience services. They will also promote immersive film production and commercialization (6 billion KRW), establishing online K-pop concert halls and producing online performances (10 billion KRW), art and technology convergence creation and production projects (4.8 billion KRW), developing immersive content integrating content and tourism (3.6 billion KRW), and building overseas immersive content experience centers (2 billion KRW). Research on digital transformation in detailed industries will expand from tourism to the cultural sector. A ministry official said, "Demand for non-face-to-face online culture and leisure has surged. By combining content and digital technology, we will realize cultural enjoyment without geographical or physical constraints and nurture it as a growth engine in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era." The Culture, Sports and Tourism Technology Promotion Center, launching this month, will be a specialized institution to promote this. It will consolidate dispersed R&D capabilities in cultural technology by sector and lay the foundation for activating convergence research in content, copyright, sports, and tourism.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is touring the Digital Immersive Video Hall at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The content industry ecosystem innovation plan is broadly divided into strengthening basic capabilities and regional balanced development, and fostering win-win cooperation and creating a fair environment. The former will be addressed through nurturing regional-based cultural content companies, utilizing 256 cultural centers nationwide, establishing content theme parks, IP convergence content clusters (22 billion KRW), Art Culture Labs (16 billion KRW), building 130 intelligent museums and art galleries, and integrating advanced cultural technology into idle regional cultural spaces (11.1 billion KRW). The scale of venture investment funds to supply capital for content creation and production will be expanded to 220 billion KRW, and a 25 billion KRW COVID-19 recovery support fund will be prepared to alleviate management difficulties of small and medium content production companies. Additionally, 1,130 talents will be trained through industry-academia-research cooperation, and educational programs by genre will be expanded. The core of the latter is OTT content support. A drama fund worth 50 billion KRW will be created to carry out global projects, and 11.6 billion KRW will be provided to produce OTT-specialized content. An OTT content specialized graduate school will also be established. Next year, 50 field-customized talents will be trained. Fair contract guidelines between OTT platforms and content producers will be prepared, and international broadcasting and video markets, Seoul Drama Awards, and others will be held to encourage overseas expansion. Meanwhile, legislation on "Creating a Fair Distribution Environment for the Cultural Industry" will be pursued, and standard contracts will be appropriately revised to accelerate the creation of a fair environment.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is touring the exhibition hall at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The key topic for activating Hallyu outbound is building a K-content outbound platform. Regional meetings of related organizations will be formed centered on major overseas Korean cultural centers, and regional networks will be solidified to strengthen the function of cultural exchange platforms. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "We plan to increase overseas outbound bases to respond to the rapidly growing demand for Hallyu," adding, "Next year, the New York Korea Center and the Swedish Cultural Center will be newly established, and the Korea Creative Content Agency Business Center will also be expanded. The Sejong Institutes will be increased to 270 locations by next year." The government will also expand Hallyu touchpoints. The K-Style Hub will reopen in February next year, and convergence content experience facilities will be installed at overseas cultural centers. World K-pop Concerts, East Asia E-sports Competitions, and Korea Content Week will be fostered as representative Hallyu events. Furthermore, the Hallyu Cooperation Committee will identify and support collaborative projects, and various online exchange channels will be opened to diversify Hallyu into publishing, traditional culture, and more.

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