Gov’t seeks to help businesses tap into Hallyu

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Gov’t seeks to help businesses tap into Hallyu

Published: 17 May. 2016, 20:35

The government launched a new task force to support local small and midsize consumer goods manufacturers that wish to export more products to foreign countries by taking advantage of Hallyu, or the Korean Wave.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a meeting at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation headquarters in Seoul on Tuesday and announced that it will establish a so-called product placement export-promoting task force, an advertising technique used by companies to promote their products through appearances in films, dramas and other media.

Some 14 government and private groups, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Korea Communications Commission; Korea Creative Content Agency; and Corea Drama Production Association, will be members of the team and meet at least twice a year to select certain media content believed to have a higher chance of success in foreign markets.

They will also arrange meetings between content producers and local manufacturers to discuss methods of cooperation.

The government will also consider supporting 50 percent of the total money that local manufacturers spend for such advertisements.

The first so-called match day will be held in July, and both companies and media content producers will have opportunities to hear about what they can offer each other.

Once they sign deals, the government will also help by asking both local and foreign online retailers to launch special showrooms for Korean consumer goods that appear in dramas and shows.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) will also help local companies by researching foreign markets, looking for new buyers and holding special exhibitions in foreign countries.

“The government plans to have such consumer goods be sold at five exhibition shops operated by the Small and Medium Business Administration in the United States, China and Vietnam,” the trade ministry said in a press release.

Kotra will organize a new team that specifically focuses on supporting Hallyu-related goods to be advertised as often as possible, not only in dramas and movies, but also at sports events and on variety shows.

By the end of this year, the government will introduce an online product placement matching system so that companies and producers can make deals whenever they wish.

BY KIM YOUNG-NAM [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]