K-pop, film, games and more: Gov't plans large-scale expansion of content industry

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K-pop, film, games and more: Gov't plans large-scale expansion of content industry

Published: 18 Jun. 2024, 16:20

YOON SO-YEON
yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr

Visitors try new games at the G-Star 2023 game festival held in at the Bexco convention center in Busan on Nov. 16, 2023. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Busan's G-Star game convention getting K-pop concerts and Esports battles and more K-pop acts performing at overseas music festivals are just some of the proposed items in the government’s new plan for nurturing the country’s pop culture sector.

The proposal was announced during a meeting of the Content Industry Promotion Committee, headed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and attended by 13 ministers from government departments, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, along with civilian commissioners appointed by the government, held on Tuesday afternoon in Pangyo, Gyeonggi.

Four missions were laid out by the Culture Ministry with the primary focus of giving a major push to the K-content industry by either expanding existing events or launching new projects for major pop culture sectors, such as gaming, webtoons, film, music and broadcasting.

Culture festivals and overseas culture centers will be upgraded or newly established to attract visitors from around the world.

The ministry will cooperate with the Busan Metropolitan City government to enhance the G-Star game convention with K-pop performances, Esports matches and more to help it become one of the biggest in the world. The Asia Song Festival will also get a new name, the Beyond K Festival, and include not only K-pop but other cultural experiences.

A webtoon awards ceremony and festival will start in September this year to solidify Korea’s leading position in the webtoon industry. Government industries will collaborate to host the K-Expo to promote content companies, their products and related industries. Additional content business centers, operated by the Korea Creative Content Agency (Kocca), will be established in order to help smaller companies gain access to information and network in overseas markets.

State money will go toward improving the overall cultural infrastructure of Korea through new facilities and funds.

A K-content culture complex will be built by 2035 that will include a content academy, job center, production studio, accommodation, exhibition centers and more. The specific region for the complex is under discussion and will likely be revealed next year, according to the Culture Ministry.

The Busan Content Market 2024 fair is held at Busan's Bexco convention center on May 22. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The government will also pour 5 trillion won ($3.6 billion) into funding the culture industry, including a 2.4 trillion won fund of funds, a 1 trillion won strategic fund and 700 billion won to help content companies with loan interest payments. Regulations will be revised to make it easier for foreign venture capital firms to participate in the government’s culture fund, the Culture Ministry said.

Content companies will also get direct investment and support from the government.

The culture industry will invest in research and development for content using AI and other cutting-edge technologies, especially for performances, videos and games. The government will discuss methods to cut production costs and ease regulations for content companies, such as through tax reductions, which will need to be approved by the Finance Ministry.

Different cities outside Seoul will be transformed into “cultural clusters” and specialize in specific genres of culture, such as video in Busan, game technology in Daegu, special video effects in Daejeon, characters in Gwangju and mixed intellectual property (IP) in Gyeonggi.

Genre-specific assistance will be given to help local companies keep in line with the latest trends in the global market with the goal of “nurturing the next BTS and the next ‘Squid Game,’” according to First Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Jeon Byeong-geuk.

Boy band BTS [BIGHIT MUSIC]

A scene from the second season of Netflix original series ″Squid Game,″ starring actor Lee Jung-jae reprising his role as Gi-hun [NETFLIX]

The government will help local companies develop console games, which are more popular outside of Korea where mobile and PC games are played by the majority, by collaborating with global tech giants, including Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Smaller webtoon companies will be given access to market information and networks to launch their services in foreign countries, along with localization services, such as translation.

Regulations regarding films and video content will be reviewed in order to establish a one-stop support system for producers. Online platforms and producers will be given subsidies if they jointly own the intellectual property (IP) rights to the content in order to facilitate a healthy copyright culture. The Culture Ministry will also help domestic companies get joint production deals with companies in major markets, including Britain, France and Southeast Asia.

K-pop companies will be given legal and management consultations to help promote their music overseas. The government will also pursue the establishment of K-pop showcases at major music festivals around the world, such as South by Southwest and The Great Escape Festival.

“The content industry has been making significant progress ever since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, evident through the record-high volume of content export and revenue as well as investment deals from global companies including Netflix,” Prime Minister Han said.

“Despite such success, many mid-sized content companies are struggling to make the great leap due to fiscal difficulties in addition to a spreading fear of stagnation in growth. It is crucial that we establish a state-level support strategy and system so that the content industry grows into the new growth engine of the Korean economy.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]