[K-wave] President Lee's pledge for US$ 211 bil. K-culture era by 2030

It no longer comes as a surprise to hear that Korea's culture, including its cultural content industry has become one of the leading growth engines of the country.

South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung has pledged to expand the nation's cultural industries further, with strong support for arts and culture.

Lee Eun-jin explains the strategy.

Part of the new Lee Jae-myung administration's national vision is turning South Korea into a top cultural powerhouse -one of the top 5 global soft power leaders.

"Korean culture is captivating the world. Culture is economy, and culture is international competitiveness. We must transform Korea's global cultural wave into industrial growth and quality jobs."

President Lee sees culture and content not just as industries, but as central pillars of South Korea's growth strategy, being dubbed the "K-initiative."

He pledged to significantly increase the national budget for culture, which currently accounts for just 1-point-3-3 percent of the total spending. He set a goal of approximately tripling the current size, with the goal to expand the size of the domestic arts and culture industry market to 300 trillion won, that's 211 billion U.S. dollars and boost cultural exports to 35-point-2 billion U.S. dollars, by 2030. The government's vision of a "Soft Power BIG 5" includes areas of food, beauty, K-pop, dramas and webtoons.

"With strong support for the arts, we will become a cultural powerhouse setting global standards — one of the top five global soft power leaders."

Pledges by the Lee administration also include systematic government support at various stages, from the beginning of content creation to distribution and overseas expansion. This includes increasing policy incentives in the K-content industry, such as expanding research and development, and providing financial assistance and tax benefits.

For K-pop, which is already globally recognized, support will be strengthened for building cutting-edge virtual studios as well as large-scale multi-purpose arena-style performance venues.

So far this year, in the Korean arts and culture scene, soprano Jo Sumi received the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture, and conductor Chung Myung-Whun became the first Asian to be appointed music director of Milan's La Scala opera house. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk of Squid Game also received a special achievement award at a U.S. television awards ceremony.

And most recently, President Lee Jae-myung congratulated the Korean musical 'Maybe Happy Ending' for winning the country's first Tony Awards.

Lee Eunjin, Arirang News.