Agency to create K-culture hub in Chongqing
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Song Sung-gak president of KOCCA
By Baek Byung-yeul
The state-run Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) has been supporting local cultural content creators in various endeavors since its founding in 2009.
KOCCA President Song Sung-gak revealed that the next “gold mine” for exporting Korean cultural products, branded under “hallyu” (the Korean wave), will be Chongqing, southwest China.
“There are many Korean companies that already have entered markets in Beijing or Shanghai, but not in Chongqing yet,” Song said during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. “The city is one of the world’s largest with a population of some 30 million, and it will be the first key region to open the new hallyu era.”
To make it possible, KOCCA signed an agreement with the Chongqing Culture Industry Investment Group, Dec. 8, to connect Korean creators and local Chongqing companies.
“The city government already offered to lease a building to Korean companies for three years free of charge. Also, they asked us to make a hallyu theme park there,” the president said, adding that KOCCA plans to open its Chongqing branch in June. The agency already has offices in Shanghai and Beijing.
Song continued that closer connections can be made by not only the Chinese city’s large population, but also the region’s “good will toward Korea.”
“As an agency helping local creators export their products abroad, we have kept three principles when expanding into overseas markets,” he said. “There should be a big enough size of market, there should be friendly sentiment to Korea, and finally the place should be a strategic waypoint to spread to nearby areas. Chongqing satisfies all these conditions.”
In addition, KOCCA will open more international branches in Abu Dhabi in March, Sao Paulo in July and Jakarta in September. It will also send overseas marketers to the 28 Korean Cultural Centers operated in 24 countries by the government-run Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) to give more opportunities for local creators to introduce their products overseas.
With a budget of 292.7 billion ($241.2) this year, KOCCA will lay the groundwork for creating “big killer content.” It will spend some 20 billion won to open the CEL Academy, an educational institute to foster content creators and 56.4 billion won to help creators produce and export their content overseas.
The agency’s ambitious move to expand overseas markets is in accordance with Park Geun-hye administration’s goal to make the culture industry a new growth engine of Korea.
“With a 40 percent increased budget from last year, we will push forward with 120 business plans this year. We will do our best to help the country’s cultural content industry step up by pioneering a new market and creating new content,” Song said.