Musicals, games, films, named ‘killer content’

The government on Thursday selected online games, films, animated films, the character business, broadcasting and musicals as well as converged content as Korea’s “killer content,” subject to tailored support in the future.

The authorities will also discover and develop storytelling in content that has a uniquely Korean appeal in order to enhance global competitiveness, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry Science, ICT and Future Planning said in a press briefing on Thursday.

“We will strengthen our support for the Global Game Hub Center, which will provide one-stop service to small and mid-size game makers. A 20 billion won ($18.5 million) fund for animated films will be established while 1 billion won will be set aside for reproducing audiovisual content for Asia, South America and Arabic nations.

“K-pop and indie-band showcases will be supported while a 10 billion won fund under the cultural fund of funds will be established to nurture local musicals,” said Hwang Jun-suk, a Culture Ministry official. The government expects to see annual cultural content exports rise to 10 billion won by 2017.

According to the government, the global content market is sized at $1.63 trillion as of 2012, marking an annual growth rate of 5.1 percent. Korea currently accounts for 2.8 percent of the market, or some $4.8 billion.

“We understand that greater importance lies in the cultural content industry (which now takes up 0.88 percent of all exports) since it leads to more electronics and automobiles, as well as IT exports, and has a positive influence on all other industries,” the ministry official said.

The ministry in March said it would allocate another 189 billion won ($170 million) for investment in cultural content to bring its total related budget to 1 trillion won.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)