Korea to create W189 billion fund to foster cultural content

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will allocate another 189 billion won ($170 million) for investment in cultural content to bring its total related budget to 1 trillion won, it said Thursday.

The animated film, character development and cartoon industries will be some of the largest beneficiaries with 20 billion won allotted to each, while aggressive investment will be made in the film industry on the back of the strength of the market for domestic films. Korean films attracted more than 100 million moviegoers last year.

A 15 billion won-fund for fashion and indigenous musical development is likely to be added to the investment portfolio in the future, the ministry said. Regulation on attracting foreign investment will be eased and large corporations will be “encouraged” to invest, while content developers seeking to advance into foreign markets will be supported with the fund.

“Public awareness of the so-called content industry has grown at a remarkable speed and we expect more participation from the private sector,” said Hwang Jun-seok, a ministry official, at a press briefing.

The ministry’s fund was created by the public and private sectors and is managed by the Korea Venture Investment Corp.

Since its launch in 2005, the fund has invested in various business projects by 724 companies. Last year its film investments came into the black for the first time with the overall profit margin marking 13 percent.

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