New gov't to support export of hallyu content

K-pop group BTS performs during the “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage ― Las Vegas” concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, April 9. Courtesy of Big Hit Music

By Kim Rahn

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration will assist small companies' exports of cultural content by creating an agency for integrated support, with the goal of helping them produce the “next BTS” or “next Squid Game.”

This plan comes from the belief that Korean cultural products and services can be the next growth engine for the country.

For boosting the culture and content industries, the presidential transition committee earlier unveiled the new administration's policy direction to restructure various organizations under the culture ministry that are dedicated to cultural content exports, to create a single organization referred to temporarily as the “Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in the cultural sector.”

So far, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), Korea Copyright Protection Agency, Korean Film Council and Korean Cultural Centers in 33 countries have been in charge of supporting cultural content exports via their respective functions and services. Now their functions will be integrated, centering on KOCCA, so that relevant small companies, which usually have difficulty entering overseas markets, can get one-stop counseling services and other support for export, marketing and copyright issues in other countries.

The main target of the service will be small firms with less than 1 billion won in annual sales and less than 10 employees, which account for 90 percent of the nation's cultural content companies.

To address their financial difficulties, the Yoon administration also plans to expand financial aid programs by budgeting more state funds.

“Cultural content has high added value but many companies are small and have difficulty advancing overseas. As the original KOTRA offers integrated support for manufacturing companies, the 'KOTRA in the cultural sector' will offer support for cultural content companies,” an official from the committee said.

Officials of the presidential transition committee announce the Yoon Suk-yeol government's policy plan to support the cultural content industry, at the committee's office in Seoul, April 28. Joint Press Corps

The new administration also aims to set up a “control tower” body to oversee the media and content industries to strengthen their global competitiveness.

“We plan to create a better environment for media and content firms by removing bureaucracy, providing legal aid, relieving unreasonable regulations and providing tax benefits,” the official said. “This control tower will be comprised of government officials, scholars and civic groups, to ensure both professionalism and policymaking.”

To enhance both the hallyu boom and tourism, the Yoon administration plans to designate 2023 and 2024 tentatively as the “years of hallyu tourism,” and attract foreign tourists through various programs. It will also make efforts to encourage trips by people across the Northeast Asian nations of Korea, China and Japan by seeking more cooperation in travel, such as simpler immigration processes.