Starting Next Year, Up to 150,000 KRW 'Culture and Arts Pass' Support for 160,000 19-Year-Olds

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Announces 3 Major Innovation Strategies for Culture and Arts
'Youth Culture and Arts Pass' Pilot Operation
Arts Fund Support Increased to 100 Million KRW per Case by 2027

Starting next year, 160,000 individuals born in 2005 who will turn 19 years old will receive a 'Culture and Arts Pass' worth up to 150,000 KRW per person, which can be used to attend performances, exhibitions, and other pure arts events.

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is delivering a greeting at the briefing on the 'Three Major Innovation Strategies and Ten Core Tasks in Culture and Arts' held on the morning of the 28th at Modu Arts Theater in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 28th, Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced the 'Three Major Innovation Strategies and Ten Core Tasks for Culture and Arts' at the Modu Arts Theater in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) established ten core tasks based on ▲support for artists ▲creating an environment for public cultural enjoyment ▲restructuring cultural and arts policy frameworks.

The 'Youth Culture and Arts Pass,' which will be piloted from next year, is a cultural pass that allows 19-year-olds to attend performances and exhibitions. This project, supported by 100,000 KRW from the national government plus up to 50,000 KRW from local governments, will have a total budget of 17 billion KRW from the MCST in 2024, providing 150,000 KRW per person.

The MCST plans to expand direct cultural consumption by young potential audiences and grow the pure arts market by referencing overseas cases such as Italy (18 years old, 500 euros) and France (18 years old, 300 euros), which provide youth culture passes for a single age group.

Minister Yoon explained, "The Culture Nuri Card, a cultural voucher promoted by the Arts Council Korea, is limited to low-income groups and its benefits are restricted to travel accommodation, sports activities, and movies. The 'Culture and Arts Pass' is designed to expand pure arts consumption and is only applicable to exhibitions, performances, and traditional cultural fields."

The MCST also announced plans to nurture world-class artists and support the creation of works. The support level, currently averaging 30 million KRW per work as of this year, will be raised to about 100 million KRW per work by 2027. Reflecting field demands, the support method for artists will also be improved, shifting from small-scale, multiple, one-time, direct support at the individual level to large-scale projects, multi-year, and indirect support methods.

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (center), is giving a greeting at the briefing on the "Three Major Innovation Strategies and Ten Core Tasks for Culture and Arts" held on the morning of the 28th at Modu Arts Theater in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Additionally, to ensure continuous support for creative activities, the proportion of multi-year support projects will be expanded from 15% in 2024 to 25% by 2027.

Provision of creative activity spaces, which are in high demand among young artists in literature, visual arts, and performance, will be significantly strengthened. The budget will increase by 270% from 2.7 billion KRW in 2023 to 10 billion KRW in 2024, and the number of young trainees in national art organizations will be expanded more than threefold in 2024 (from 95 in 2023 to 295 in 2024), actively promoting indirect support. The MCST stated that through this, it plans to expand opportunities and experiences on stage for talented young artists, helping them grow into world-class artists.

A budget of 17.8 billion KRW will be invested in 2024 for hosting 14 cultural and arts events, including performances by national art organizations such as the National Opera Company, National Symphony Orchestra, National Contemporary Dance Company, and National Ballet Company, as well as Korean art exhibitions at global events like the 2024 Paris Olympics. This aims to expand the scope of K-Art and K-Culture and broaden the platforms for artists' activities.

A total of 1.5 trillion KRW will be invested by 2030 to develop nationwide cultural and arts infrastructure. New national cultural and arts spaces will be created in five regions: Seoul (restructuring aging spaces), Gyeonggi and Gangwon areas (creating open storage facilities and performance halls utilizing areas adjacent to Seoul), Gyeongsang area (transforming the former Gyeongbuk Provincial Office into a cultural space), Chungcheong area (transforming the former Chungnam Provincial Office into a cultural space), and Jeolla and Jeju areas (restoring the former Jeonnam Provincial Office), improving conditions for the public to enjoy culture and arts.

Minister Yoon In-chon of the MCST said, "In 2023, we focused on continuously listening to opinions from the cultural and arts field and organizing and establishing policies. In 2024, we will devote all efforts to realizing the core tasks announced today," adding, "Each policy will be implemented next year and continuously revised based on field feedback."

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