[Newsmaker] Culture Ministry prioritizes boosting content, tourism industries in 2023

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will focus on boosting South Korea’s content and tourism industries in 2023, it said on Thursday during a New Year’s policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The ministry has set out a goal to achieve $22 billion in content exports by 2027, significantly up from $12.4 billion in 2021. The ministry will inject 790 billion won ($625 million) in policy funds to help boost content exports in 2023.

For tourism, the ministry aims to increase the number of inbound tourists from 9.7 million to 30 million people in 2027, while boosting tourism revenue to $30 billion, up from $10.3 billion in 2021.

Designating 2023 and 2024 as the years of "Visit Korea," the ministry plans to carry out various promotions including a roadshow in 15 cities to attract 10 million tourists. This year, the country expects 10 million visitors and tourism revenue of $16 billion.

As part of ways to promote tourism, the Culture Ministry said it plans to create a historical, cultural and tourism cluster around Cheong Wa Dae, formerly the presidential office. The cluster will combine nearby museums, art galleries, Tongin-dong and Seochon Village around Cheong Wa Dae to offer a new attraction for tourists, the ministry said. A K-culture visa that allows foreigners to study Korean culture and stay in the country up to two years will also be introduced. To help the recovery of the tourism industry, policy funds of 300 billion won will be provided to foster tourism companies.

During the briefing held at Cheong Wa Dae, Yoon emphasized the importance of original Korean content beyond its sector.

"This is something that has an intuitive impact on all other industries, including infrastructure and arms, by improving the Republic of Korea's image," Yoon said. "So it's important to not only export K-content, but from now on, I expect the content industry to become the most significant area in fortifying our capabilities and increasing our export power."