Park Bo-gyun: "Musicals Leading K-Culture Will Be Supported for Overseas Expansion"

30th 'K-Musical Vision Presentation'
Overseas Expansion Cases Including 'Marie Curie' and 'Fan Letter' Announced
Actors Yang Junmo and Kim Heera Attend

"Among K-culture, musicals play a crucial role, accounting for more than 76% of the domestic performance market. The public and private sectors must join forces to help K-musicals succeed not only in Asia but also in the U.S. and European markets."

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Park Bo-gyun is presenting the vision at the K-Musical Vision Presentation held at the S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 30th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 30th, Park Bo-gyun, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, emphasized the importance of K-musicals at the K-Musical Vision Presentation event titled ‘How Far Have You Been with K-Musicals?’ held at the S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The event was part of the ‘K-Musical International Market’ program, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Management Support Center, which has been ongoing since the 27th. The event was organized to explore overseas expansion of Korean musicals, where production producers and overseas experts attended to present and share K-musical support policies and cases of K-musicals entering foreign markets.

At the event, Minister Park stated, “Following groups like BTS and BLACKPINK, films like ‘Parasite,’ and dramas like ‘Squid Game,’ musicals are now succeeding K-culture by attracting global attention and applause,” adding, “Now, original musicals like ‘Marie Curie’ have reached the level where they can be exported overseas, demonstrating significant production capabilities and the talents of actors.”

K-musicals have experienced continuous high growth over the past 20 years. According to the Integrated Performing Arts Information System (KOPIS) in 2022, ticket sales exceeded 400 billion KRW for the first time last year, leading the growth of the domestic performance market. In particular, original musicals that have consistently sought overseas markets since 2000 have recently raised the status of K-musicals by exporting numerous domestic works overseas, such as Live’s ‘Marie Curie’ and EMK Musical Company’s ‘Beethoven.’

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to introduce Korean works through the ‘K-Musical International Market’ to provide opportunities for overseas expansion. Additionally, they will increase overseas showcases through roadshows in Asia and English-speaking countries. In the final stage, they will provide phased follow-up support to ensure successful distribution in overseas markets by supporting localization and joint projects with local partners.

Efforts will also be made to nurture musical talent and professional global producers. While continuously supporting the Korea Arts Council’s ‘Creative Workshop’ project, the Arts Management Support Center’s ‘Performing Arts Creation-Production and Distribution Cooperation Ecosystem Building’ project will lay the groundwork for revitalizing original musicals. Together with the musical industry, they plan to enhance the Integrated Performing Arts Information System to increase trust in performance market data and create an environment that expands investment in performances.

Park Bo-gyun, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is taking a commemorative photo with Shin Chun-soo, General Director of the 2023 K-Musical International Market, and other attendees after the "K-Musical, How Far Have You Been?" 2023 K-Musical Vision Presentation held at the S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

At the vision presentation, actress Kim Hee-ra, who plays Sarah in the Netflix drama ‘The Glory,’ said, “Since my debut, I have had many opportunities to perform on original musical stages, and through appearances in original musicals that have entered overseas markets such as ‘Fan Letter’ and ‘Marie Curie,’ I was able to introduce Korea and Korean actors abroad.” She added, “Both works were produced with support from original musical development programs, which provided a foundation for creators to freely experience trial and error and produce stronger works through premieres, revivals, and third runs.” She continued, “I heard that the UK has no government support programs, but in Korea, many failures and challenges are repeated through development programs, and the Korean market is now prepared with many creators and actors,” emphasizing the potential of the K-musical market.

Yang Jun-mo, a lead actor in the musical ‘Hero,’ who also attended, shared, “I feel that the development of original musicals in our language is advancing the skills and abilities of actors as well. Meeting audiences through such diverse original musical works is a valuable and rewarding experience as an actor.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to support the cultivation of K-musical ‘killer content’ in collaboration with related organizations and domestic private musical production companies. Based on various achievements such as Seoul Arts Troupe’s ‘Darwin Young’s Origin of Evil’ entering the Japanese market and the musical ‘Showman,’ co-produced earlier this year by the National Jeongdong Theater and a private production company, which won the Grand Prize at the Korean Musical Awards, they will actively support content development.

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