Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Budget for Next Year 6.7408 Trillion Won... Focus on Supporting the Private Sector

2.2029 Trillion Won Invested in Fostering K-Content... 'K-Content Fund' 190 Billion Won
1.426 Trillion Won Spent on Improving Environment for Disabled... 16.4 Billion Won for Cheongwadae Management and Utilization

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 24th that the budget expenditure for next year has been finalized at 6.7408 trillion won. This is an increase of 33.2 billion won from the government proposal of 6.7076 trillion won during the National Assembly review process. The additional items include the establishment of an advanced safety system for performance venues (1.4 billion won), introduction of a self-rating system for video content (3 billion won), a comprehensive information system for sports clubs (6.8 billion won), and wide-area tourism development in the southern region (5.5 billion won).

The primary investment focus is to support the freedom, creativity, and innovation of the private sector. To develop K-content as a game-changer that will reshape the economic and industrial landscape, 2.2029 trillion won will be invested. The 'K-Content Fund' will receive an increased support of 51.2 billion won, totaling 190 billion won, and support for broadcasting and video content production will increase by 72.3 billion won to 99.1 billion won. Fifty-seven billion won will also be used to operate a new technology content convergence academy. New projects include a general account transfer to the Film Development Fund (80 billion won), research and development for building metaverse content intellectual property (IP) (3.3 billion won), and support for developing performance content utilizing new technologies and IP (5.5 billion won).

Private sector support also includes expanding creative opportunities for cultural artists. The budget for establishing a creative safety net for artists has increased by 8.9 billion won to 86.9 billion won, for building a cooperative ecosystem for performing arts creation, production, and distribution by 6.9 billion won to 15.6 billion won, and for supporting traditional storytelling such as the "Storytelling Grandmothers" by 1.2 billion won to 16.2 billion won. New preparations include strengthening the field capabilities of prospective artists and the arts ecosystem (5.8 billion won) and support for the use of arts and technology convergence vouchers (2.1 billion won).

Support for the private sector in tourism and sports focuses on discovering new growth engines and innovative growth, as in this year. Major projects include strengthening the competitiveness of travel agencies (10.3 billion won), research and development for innovative growth in tourism services (6.7 billion won), sports tech projects (12.5 billion won), research and development of rehabilitation exercise services based on local communities (5 billion won), and development of ICT-based sports care service technologies (3.7 billion won).

Another key investment direction is culture, arts, sports, and tourism enjoyed fairly and without discrimination. 1.426 trillion won will be spent to meticulously improve the creative and access environment for persons with disabilities. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official explained, "This budget allocation is to guarantee fair cultural access opportunities as stated in President Yoon Seok-yeol’s inaugural speech and to realize the national agenda of 'universal cultural welfare'." The main projects are similar to this year’s but with slight budget increases. These include establishing a foundation for special language promotion (3 billion won), support for inclusive enjoyment (26.2 billion won), production and development of alternative materials for libraries for the disabled (12.9 billion won), creating an accessible tourism environment (8.2 billion won), support for sports for persons with disabilities (28.1 billion won), and socially integrated sports facilities (60.1 billion won).

One of the core projects, the integrated cultural voucher budget, increased from 188.1 billion won to 210.2 billion won. The ministry official explained, "This is the result of expanding the support target by 40,000 people to 2.67 million people and increasing the support amount by 10,000 won to 110,000 won." The sports class voucher support budget also increased from 51.9 billion won to 85.2 billion won by expanding the target by 20,000 people to 105,000 people and raising the support amount by 10,000 won to 95,000 won. Additionally, the ministry will allocate 25.6 billion won for cultural regeneration projects of idle spaces such as abandoned industrial facilities, 36.4 billion won for cultural city development, 28.2 billion won for planned contest-type regional tourism development, 7.6 billion won for regional MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) activation support, and 1.7 billion won for operating cultural spaces for middle-aged youth.

The final key investment direction is K-culture shared with the world. To widely spread its rich appeal, 892.5 billion won will be supported. The Korea Creative Content Agency’s overseas business centers and other export overseas bases will receive an increased budget of 4.5 billion won, totaling 10.2 billion won, and support for pioneering overseas content markets will increase by 4 billion won to 8 billion won. Comprehensive overseas advancement consultation support will also increase by 3 billion won to 5.2 billion won, and a new project providing customized in-depth overseas information for companies based on Hallyu data will use 1.5 billion won.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also invest increased budgets in tourism and sports for the same purpose. For tourism, the budget is divided into hosting the Year of Visit Korea (10 billion won), special marketing for post-COVID inbound tourism recovery (6.2 billion won), development of tourism hub cities (42.3 billion won), fostering medical and wellness tourism (13.2 billion won), and revitalizing island tourism (5.2 billion won). For sports, the budget is divided into support for nurturing elite athletes (124.7 billion won), support for the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games and operation of cultural programs (22.6 billion won), and support for the 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships (4.2 billion won). A ministry official said, "We plan to improve conditions for professional sports by raising the national team training allowance from 70,000 won to 80,000 won per day and extending the trainer employment period from 11 months to 12 months."

164 billion won will be used for the management and utilization of the Blue House, which was opened to the public in May. This includes presidential history research (400 million won), art exhibitions (3.6 billion won), spreading K-music (6.4 billion won), and renovation of Sarangchae and operation of the information center (6 billion won). A ministry official stated, "We plan to develop it into a living cultural, artistic, and historical space that goes beyond simple viewing."

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