K-Content as a National Strategic Industry... 5 Trillion Won Policy Finance

K-content is emerging as a national strategic industry. A complex cultural complex will be established, and policy financing worth 5 trillion won will be supplied.

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On the 18th, the government announced the "New Economic Growth Engine of the Korean Economy, K-content Global Top 4 Power Leap Strategy" at the 8th Content Industry Promotion Committee chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. It is a long-term project containing four major components: national strategic industrialization of K-content, growth of content companies, leap to mainstream global culture, and focused support for core content genres.

Prime Minister Han said, "Since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, the content industry has achieved record-high export and sales figures and received investment commitments from world-renowned companies such as Netflix," but he also diagnosed that "many content companies still face financial difficulties in becoming mid-sized companies, and a sense of crisis over growth stagnation is spreading." He added, "We will do our utmost to establish national support strategies and support systems so that the content industry can leap forward as a new growth engine of the Korean economy."

The core driving force is the national strategic industrialization of K-content, consisting of the establishment of a complex cultural complex and policy financing worth 5 trillion won. The former will be a space where companies, universities, and research institutes related to content gather to continuously produce, distribute, and enjoy K-content. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will promote four major strategies, seven districts, and ten projects to realize this vision. It plans to develop it into a self-sustaining K-content landmark with content companies, content production and education facilities, and living infrastructure. The expected completion date is 2035.

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The latter already has concrete plans. Policy funds worth 3.4 trillion won will be supplied, including the Cultural Account of the Korea Fund for Culture (2.4 trillion won), which pursues both profitability and public interest, and the K-content & Media Strategic Fund (1 trillion won) for concentrated investment in large-scale content. In addition, the 'Completion Guarantee' system, which is currently provided only at the production stage, will be expanded and reorganized into the 'Cultural Industry Guarantee' (about 900 billion won) covering all stages of the content value chain (planning, production, commercialization, overseas expansion), and loan support (about 700 billion won) that backs part of the interest on loans for content companies will be strengthened. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "We plan to improve the current domestic capital-centered policy fund operation method and open it so that overseas venture capital can also participate in policy fund management."

The government is also focusing on job creation through the growth of content companies. The solution lies in investment in new technologies and intellectual property (IP) that will lead the future content industry. It will evenly support R&D in performance, video, and games, as well as R&D in display and mobility convergence, and R&D aimed at solving social problems. In addition, it will expand IP investment through policy financing such as IP funds and specialized guarantees and massively nurture IP-specialized personnel.

Specialized regional content will also be fostered centered on regional content bases such as Content Korea Lab and Content Company Support Centers. By spreading regional content cooperation districts (clusters) nationwide, the government aims to alleviate regional imbalances in the content industry and promote sustainable growth of K-content. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "We plan to prepare measures to reduce production costs for content companies and discover regulatory innovation tasks in the content industry that have a high sense of impact to institutionally support the growth of content companies."

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The government will hold festivals representing K-content to attract foreigners to visit Korea. The most notable event is 'G-Star,' which attracts 200,000 visitors annually. To elevate it to one of the world's top three game shows, the program will be strengthened and the exhibition area expanded to include devices and related industries. In addition, a global webtoon festival and an internationally prestigious awards ceremony will be established to reinforce Korea’s status as the home of webtoons, and diverse K-pop stages such as the K-music festival will be created.

Efforts will also be made to promote joint exports of content and related industries through the K-content premium effect. The Content Business Center and Corporate Support Center will be designated as export hubs to resolve difficulties faced by content export companies. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "We plan to provide one-on-one export support, customized information, and introduce a public resident officer system." He added, "In cooperation with related ministries, we will hold a 'K-Expo' and expand the function of overseas promotional centers (Korea 360) that permanently exhibit, promote, and consult on K-products."

The government is also focusing on increasing the economic value of K-content by intensively supporting core genres. For example, in games, it supports discovering and promoting excellent console games in collaboration with global console platforms such as Microsoft (MS), Sony, and Nintendo. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official explained, "Considering the long production period and high production costs of console games, we plan to strengthen customized support such as multi-year production support."

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In webtoons, support will be provided for global expansion such as establishing overseas subsidiaries and overseas services by domestic platform companies. In films, reflecting the blurred boundaries with Over-The-Top (OTT) services, the scope and targets of production support will be expanded. In music, customized support for company growth will be strengthened, including content production and promotion, secondary commercialization, and enhancement of management and legal capabilities. In broadcasting, production costs will be supported when production companies and OTTs jointly own IP to spread the culture of IP sharing. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "We plan to promote overseas new market development by pursuing joint investment and production with production companies and platforms in the UK, France, Southeast Asia, and other regions."

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