The Scope of Cultural Enjoyment Expands with the Culture and Arts Pass and Munhwa Nuri Card

160,000 19-Year-Olds Enjoy Pure Art Within 150,000 KRW
Cultural Nuri Card Annual Limit Raised from 110,000 KRW to 130,000 KRW
1.74 Trillion KRW Policy Financing Supplied to Content Market

This year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's notable policies can be summarized into four main areas: the introduction of the 'Culture and Arts Pass,' expansion of the Integrated Cultural Voucher (Munhwa Nuri Card), large-scale content policy financing, and the expansion of the 'Travel Month.' These initiatives focus on supporting youth, vulnerable groups, businesses, and regions to broaden opportunities for creation and employment while encouraging cultural enjoyment among vulnerable populations.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Culture and Arts Pass targets 160,000 young people turning 19 this year. They can use up to 150,000 KRW annually to attend pure arts events (performances and exhibitions). This is expected to reduce economic burdens and create new demand for culture and arts. The Ministry also plans to expand support for youth startups. The 'Today Traditional Startup' program, which discovers and supports young entrepreneurs in the traditional culture industry, will expand its target from early-stage startups (1?3 years since founding, up to 100 million KRW for 3 years) to growth-stage companies (4?7 years since founding, up to 140 million KRW for 2 years), providing tailored startup incubation services.

The cultural voucher support for basic livelihood security recipients and lower-income groups (aged 6 and above) will increase from 110,000 KRW to 130,000 KRW annually, marking the largest increase since 2017. Policies to improve travel convenience for vulnerable tourism groups such as the disabled and elderly will also be expanded. New zones will be selected for the Barrier-Free Tourism Connectivity Project (formerly Barrier-Free Tourism Cities), and thirty new accessible tourist sites, including Beopjusa Temple in Boeun-gun and Samaksan Cable Car in Chuncheon-si, will be developed (currently 162 sites). The burden of sports activities for low-income infants, youth, and disabled persons will be eased. In particular, the sports lesson voucher support will be adjusted upward from 95,000 KRW per month to 100,000 KRW and 110,000 KRW per month, respectively. The number of beneficiaries will also increase from 92,000 to 120,000 and from 14,000 to 20,000, respectively.

Regarding K-content, a 'Strategic Fund' will be promoted. The government and content companies will jointly invest to create a fund worth 600 billion KRW. Production support will focus on large-scale content aimed at the global market. Investment in K-content funds will also increase from 198 billion KRW to 340 billion KRW, including an increase in video-specialized investment association contributions (from 8 billion KRW to 25 billion KRW). An official stated, "We plan to supply 1.74 trillion KRW in policy financing to the domestic content market this year," expressing expectations that this will relieve financial difficulties in the content industry. The Ministry will also raise the scale of tax credits provided to video content production companies to a world-class level. Until last year, large companies received 3%, mid-sized companies 7%, and small companies 10%. Starting this year, these rates will be applied at 15%, 20%, and 30%, respectively. The Ministry will also expand forward bases for overseas expansion. Content Business Centers supporting content exports locally will be added in ten countries, including Argentina and T?rkiye (increasing from 15 to 25 centers), providing customized local legal, institutional, and market information. A Content Company Support Center will also be established in Tokyo, Japan, where Korean companies frequently expand, to assist with local corporation establishment and investment attraction.

In tourism, the Ministry will implement the 'Tourism Enterprise Innovation Voucher Support' project, which helps introduce advanced technologies such as big data and robotics and supports digital transformation of companies. While encouraging innovation in 150 tourism companies, additional overseas tourism enterprise support centers will be established to promote global growth of domestic companies. The tourism enterprise development fund will also be expanded to 400 billion KRW, focusing investments on early-stage startups and tourism venture companies. To address regional extinction risks, regional tourism revitalization will be pursued. The 'Travel Month,' held once every June, will be increased to twice a year, and bicycle tourism courses will be developed. The 'Digital Tourism Resident Card' issuance areas, which received favorable reviews last year, will be expanded and operated as a representative regional tourism program. An official said, "We plan to expand from fifteen regions last year to up to forty regions this year," expressing hopes that this will lead to domestic tourism revitalization and an increase in the resident population in areas experiencing population decline.

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