Game Industry Association "Games Are Also Culture and Art... Welcome the Amendment of the 'Cultural Arts Promotion Act'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The Korea Game Industry Association has expressed a welcoming stance on the amendment to the Cultural Arts Promotion Act, which expands the scope of cultural arts to include games and animation.

On the 26th, the Korea Game Industry Association stated, "The amendment to the (Cultural Arts Promotion Act) includes content that expands the definition of cultural arts, and accordingly, games have been newly added to the scope of cultural arts." It added, "In the current era, games have established themselves as a comprehensive art form that fuses various genres such as video, visual arts, music, and narrative. Overseas, games have long been recognized as a new genre leading the cultural arts paradigm of the 21st century."

The association continued, "Advanced gaming countries such as the United States, Japan, and France have already recognized or formalized games as art, showing swift progress. Domestically, due to negative perceptions, games have been more subject to regulation than support and development, and especially since they were not included in the realm of cultural arts, they did not receive equal treatment compared to other genres such as film, music, and comics," it explained.

The association stated, "The association and its members actively support and welcome the inclusion of games into Korean cultural arts, and we will continue to strive for the proper spread of gaming culture and improvement of public perception."

Earlier, on the 25th, the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee passed nine legislative amendments, including the amendment to the Cultural Arts Promotion Act that expands the scope of cultural arts to include games.

The amendment to the Cultural Arts Promotion Act adds games, animation, and musicals to the definition of cultural arts. Currently, literature, visual arts, music, dance, theater, film, entertainment, gugak (traditional Korean music), photography, architecture, language and literature, publishing, and culture are included. Recognition as cultural arts will provide a basis for receiving various national supports such as cultural arts funds.

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