The performance hall within the New York Korea Center. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism highlighted the global spread of K-content and the transformation of the Blue House into a major tourist attraction as key achievements in the culture, arts, sports, and tourism sectors at the midpoint of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration. The ministry also emphasized its contributions to revitalizing domestic consumption through sports and travel.
On the 19th, the ministry stated, “In 2022, industries such as K-pop, film, and games achieved their highest revenue and exports to date, reaching 151 trillion won and 13.2 billion dollars respectively.” They further mentioned, “To overcome financial challenges within the content industry and create content that can compete in the global market, we expanded policy financing for the content industry to the largest scale ever at 1.74 trillion won.” They added, “In 2024, the budget for the content sector surpasses 1 trillion won, and we pursued various measures to increase global competitiveness by expanding tax credits for video content production costs and significantly increasing tax credit rates.”
The ministry explained that this year, they systematically structured policies to actively support the overseas expansion of K-culture. In February, the ‘International Cultural Promotion Policy Office’ was newly established, followed by the development of a ‘Strategy for Advancing International Cultural Policy.’ The New York Korea Center, Korea Cultural Center in Osaka, and 25 overseas content business centers were opened and are considered bases for spreading Korean culture.
Additionally, the Blue House, which opened to the public in May 2022, has become a tourist landmark with over 6.58 million visitors. The ministry hosted the ‘Blue House K-Tourism Landmark Announcement Ceremony’ in April last year, introducing 10 tourist courses linking the Blue House with Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seochon, Bukchon, museums, galleries, and ‘K-Climbing’. More than 100 concerts, exhibitions, and festivals have been conducted at the Blue House.
The ministry boasted of enhancing South Korea’s sports status with successful international events. They said, “Achievements in international competitions led to lifelong sports activities for the public, and we also provided direct benefits through the ‘Sports Activities Incentive’ program to those who engage in sports.” Efforts were also made to introduce tax deductions for life sports facilities to foster a culture of voluntary sports participation. In addition, the ministry audited and investigated the Korea Football Association and the Badminton Korea Association to enhance transparency.
The ministry also contributed to boosting domestic consumption through travel by intensively supporting domestic tourism. From 2022 to 2024, it distributed approximately 3.35 million accommodation vouchers, resulting in about 1.2 trillion won in travel expenditure, according to the ministry.
Efforts were also made to create an environment where artists can freely engage in their work. In October last year, the ‘Art Korea Lab’ was inaugurated to support artistic and technological fusion in creation, experimentation, demonstration, distribution, and startups for artists and art companies. In March this year, plans to establish a ‘Performing Arts Belt’ connecting Namsan, Seogye-dong, and Myeong-dong, and a ‘Mapo-Hongdae Complex Arts Belt’ were announced. The ministry stated, “We restructured the support system for pure arts to enable the emergence of world-class artists and works, such as Han Kang, this year’s Nobel laureate in literature.”