By Lee Hyo-won
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Thursday its plans to use some 3.37 trillion won next year for community outreach programs and to develop cultural content.
The amount represents a 6.2 percent increase from last year, marking a record portion — 1.09 percent — of the state’s overall budget plan of 309.6 trillion won.
“The increase in budget, despite difficult (financial) circumstances, reflects the government’s recognition of how important the culture, sports and tourism sectors are,” said a staff member of the ministry. “We will concentrate on reaching out to the masses, particularly in underrepresented regions.”
The ministry said it will make arts and culture activities more accessible to the public by expanding infrastructure and investing in research and development of creative media. It also said it aims to revamp tourism and bring athletics closer to daily life. About 955 billion won will be invested in culture and arts, while 481 billion won will go to developing content, 921 billion won will be allotted for tourism activities and 780 billion won will be spent on sports-related projects.
In each category, budget for support programs targeting low-income families has increased fourfold to about 37.9 billion won. Also, 167 billion won has been set aside to create some 12,000 new jobs related to social services.
Constructions overseen by the ministry include the National History Museum and the annex of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Seoul.
An estimated 25.6 billion and 70 billion won will be spent next year on each project, respectively, so they could be completed by 2012. A total of 69 billion won will be spent to construct a training facility for national athletes in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province while 45.3 billion won will be used to build a taekwondo park in Muju, North Jeolla Province.
About 40 billion won will be set aside to create a 200-billion-won global fund by 2012 for the purpose of fostering creative industries, while financial plans will increase from 500 million won to 2.3 billion won for preventive campaigns and support programs for game addiction.
Also notable is how 3 billion won will be used to support foreign film production in Korea. Feature-length movies that spend over 5 billion won while filming here can apply to be reimbursed up to 20 percent of local production costs.