"Expanding the Content Ecosystem" KOCCA Breaks Free from Support Institution Framework

Jo Hyun-rae, President of Korea Creative Content Agency, "Content Industry is a Business Partner"
"Creating Opportunities for Producers and Investors to Connect... Promoting Business with a Broad Perspective"

In professional sports, a coach appointed mid-regular season faces two main challenges: revitalizing team morale and indicating potential for improvement. There is no preparation period like the off-season. Every day is a real game. The past three months for Cho Hyun-rae, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), have been just like that. Former president Kim Young-jun was reappointed but resigned in April after it was revealed that performance had been inflated during the preparation of the 2018 management performance report. The aftermath was severe. KOCCA sailed without a captain for five months and received an E grade (very poor) in the public institution management evaluation.

A ship adrift in the vast ocean needs a compass. President Cho is an experienced helmsman. He passed the 36th Administrative Examination and has experienced various seas. He has served in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as Director of the Game Industry Division, Director of the Media Policy Division, Director of the Copyright Policy Division, Director General of the Content Policy Bureau, Director of the Tourism Industry Policy Division, and Chief of the General Affairs Office. With a deep understanding of the industry and timely policy formulation, he was long considered the right person for the job. His driving force has always been fostering collaboration. The 2010 Game Industry Strategy Committee is a representative example. While working as Director of the Game Industry Division, he gathered about eighty experts from various fields to develop a detailed mid- to long-term execution strategy for the game industry. He established a response system tailored to industry issues, realizing so-called 'participatory policy.' This will be the color KOCCA will show going forward.

At a press conference held on the 15th at Ventago Serviced Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, President Cho stated, "Over the past three months, I have asked the members to view the content industry as a business partner." This was not merely an attempt to add political advantages to each field's expertise. He prioritizes building a close collaborative system with the industry, regional promotion agencies, and related organizations. Through effective policy linkage, he envisions a virtuous cycle structure beyond the primary support projects. President Cho cited the content policy finance system as an example.

"While KOCCA provides direct support, creating a network where investment naturally occurs is more important. We plan to create many opportunities for producers and investors to interact. Ultimately, the goal is the same. If a consensus is formed and differences in views are reduced, various opportunities arise. The same applies to intellectual property (IP) utilization. If the production companies owning IP, those planning secondary or tertiary IP, and investors maintain steady communication, the content ecosystem can expand significantly."

This direction is difficult to expect short-term results from. It requires patience akin to trusting and deploying a struggling cleanup hitter. President Cho seems to have already steeled his resolve. "In the past, the Korean market was the primary target, but now a bold strategy aiming at the global market with Korea as an additional benefit is emerging," he said. "KOCCA’s projects must also align with this trend, looking at the bigger picture and moving forward accordingly."

The blueprint, close to a rebuilding, has recently been finalized. A budget of 547.7 billion won, 5.1% higher than last year, has been secured. It will be used for new technology-based content projects (64.45 billion won), regional content development (49.6 billion won), game industry promotion (57.8 billion won), workforce training (48.59 billion won), and popular culture industry promotion (47.2 billion won). Additionally, 6.7 billion won will be invested in supporting the production of extended virtual world (metaverse) content, a newly launched initiative. President Cho said, "In the content industry, time is money," adding, "We will move up the support project briefing session, which has been held at the end of January every year, to the 27th this year to accelerate support and provide sufficient project duration."

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