[2024 Budget] Content, from Relief Pitcher to Starting Pitcher in Exports

Ministry of Culture's Largest Ever Investment of 1.77 Trillion KRW
Enhancing Export, IP Acquisition, and Global Competitiveness
Ministry of Culture's Budget for Next Year is 6.9796 Trillion KRW
Redesigning from Scratch with Focus on Maximizing Effectiveness

The government will invest a record-high 1.77 trillion won in content policy finance next year, an increase of 980 billion won compared to this year.

Park Bo-gyun, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony of the '59th Korea Press Photo Exhibition' held on the 20th at Gwanghwamun Square, Jongno-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Joint Press Photo Group

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that the budget for next year, set at 6.9796 trillion won, passed the Cabinet meeting on the 28th. This amount is 238.8 billion won (3.5%) more than this year, ushering in the era of a 7 trillion won cultural budget. Minister Park Bo-gyun stated, "We focused on continuously radiating the charm of K-culture, which excites people worldwide, and strengthening its competitiveness," adding, "We will support the export and job creation of K-content, K-tourism, and K-sports industries while ensuring that all citizens can enjoy culture fairly and without discrimination."

Previously, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism thoroughly analyzed the performance of existing financial projects. With a focus on maximizing effectiveness, all projects were redesigned from scratch. As a result, the budgets for content (1.2988 trillion won) and tourism (1.3664 trillion won) both increased by 10.7%. The sports budget (1.6701 trillion won) also rose by 1.8%. On the other hand, the budgets for culture and arts (2.2704 trillion won) and others (373.9 billion won) decreased by 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

The ministry explained, "During the budgeting process, we reviewed inefficient subsidy operations, wasteful elements, and interest cartels, eliminating unfairness, irrationality, and inefficiency," adding, "Especially for projects with raised issues of professionalism or fairness, or those with significant inefficiencies in execution, we took bold measures such as abolition or cuts regardless of the field."

The most notable change is in K-content policy finance. It was set at 1.77 trillion won, more than double this year's 790 billion won, due to its emergence as a strong relief pitcher on the export front. The content industry's export value reached 13.3 billion dollars in 2022, surpassing secondary batteries (10 billion dollars) and home appliances (8 billion dollars). The production inducement effect over the past five years also reached 37 trillion won. The ministry explained the increase by stating, "Despite solid achievements, about 87% of content companies have sales under 1 billion won, and fewer than ten employees, facing difficulties in stable financing and export market development."

The ministry plans to expand investments in the K-content industry through a mother fund contribution (360 billion won) and K-content fund contribution (290 billion won) to encourage exports and intellectual property (IP) acquisition. It will also introduce a video-specialized investment association contribution (25 billion won) for the struggling film industry and a content strategy fund (45 billion won) to produce highly competitive content. The expansion of the completion guarantee account contribution (25 billion won) will support the global competitiveness of Korean companies.

The ministry is also putting considerable effort into developing export channels. It will provide a one-stop overseas local registration support service (2.6 billion won) to 200 companies and add ten overseas business centers and two overseas content company support centers (26.7 billion won). Support for Hallyu-related industries, including joint K-exhibitions with related ministries and operation of overseas promotional centers (27.4 billion won), will also be expanded.

In tourism, efforts to attract foreign tourists will be intensified. The 'Visit Korea Year' budget (17.8 billion won) will be significantly increased to create a welcoming atmosphere for inbound tourism, and service quality will be improved through monitoring of tourism site and regional festival fees and operation of joint inspection teams involving public participation (1.6 billion won). The ministry stated, "Marketing will continue steadily in major overseas cities (7.6 billion won) and online (2 billion won)."

Efforts to secure unique tourism resources are also noteworthy. Budgets for the Cheongwadae complex cultural and arts space (33 billion won) and templestay (25 billion won), which have proven high interest from foreigners, will be increased, and loan support for facility investment and management of tourism businesses (601.7 billion won) will be expanded. Plans include discovering and nurturing tourism ventures and global leading tourism companies (33.1 billion won) to promote steady growth of the tourism industry.

In the arts budget, the proportion for art promotion (44.1 billion won) will be increased. Support will be provided for participation in art fairs, networking, and marketing for non-affiliated emerging artists in galleries (1.3 billion won), and a Korean art showcase (4.7 billion won) will be held to open overseas sales channels. Additionally, the operation of the Korea Artists Welfare Foundation will be strengthened (4.4 billion won) to alleviate difficulties faced by artists and create an environment conducive to their work.

The publishing budget will focus on lowering entry barriers and supporting emerging, one-person, and small publishers. It will support export market development and workforce training programs (7.7 billion won) and nurture excellent small and medium-sized publishers (3 billion won) to establish a robust publishing ecosystem.

Jang Mi-ran, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is taking a commemorative photo at the opening ceremony of the 'K-Culture Popup' held on the 10th at The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul. From the left, Kim Chang-seop, Executive Director of The Hyundai Seoul, Kim Jang-sil, President of the Korea Tourism Organization, Vice Minister Jang, and Kim Hyung-jong, President of Hyundai Department Store. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The per-person support amount for integrated cultural vouchers for vulnerable groups (239.7 billion won) will be raised from 110,000 won to 130,000 won. Opportunities for humanities enjoyment by vulnerable groups (9 billion won) and cultural and artistic enjoyment by children and youth (10.7 billion won) will also be expanded to minimize enjoyment gaps by age and income. The ministry will promote various cultural enjoyments such as artistic activities for the disabled (28.5 billion won), reading (14.4 billion won), and movie viewing (4.6 billion won). A budget has been allocated for creating accessible tourist sites (10.7 billion won) to provide convenient tourism experiences.

In sports, the largest-ever sports industry loan support (235 billion won) is planned. It is expected to alleviate some of the industry's difficulties accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry will also promote support for professional athletes' performance improvement through international competition participation support (8.8 billion won), excellent athlete training support including the Paris Olympics training camp operation (143.4 billion won), athlete welfare including performance rewards (19.7 billion won), and the construction and operation of an athlete education center (17.8 billion won). The hosting of international competitions, including the 2027 Summer World University Games in the Chungcheong region (46.4 billion won), will also be meticulously prepared (57.5 billion won).

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