Culture minister warns of severe challenges facing cultural industry landscape

Home > Culture > Features

Culture minister warns of severe challenges facing cultural industry landscape

Published: 04 Sep. 2025, 15:31 Updated: 04 Sep. 2025, 16:25

JIN EUN-SOO
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young speaks to the press in Seoul on Sept. 4. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

Underneath what seems like a K-culture heyday thanks to Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters," the country’s cultural industry is actually suffering severely from a lack of infrastructure and investment, according to the culture minister.

"From what I've heard on-site, the reality was surprisingly poor, unlike the glamorous image on the surface," said Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young during a news conference Thursday in central Seoul.

"There is definitely an opportunity right now, but some say Korea's culture industry has reached its peak, saying there is only a downward slope ahead of us. There were also voices of desperation, making us think that if we take things lightly, we will all spiral down in the near future."

Chae, an IT expert, who was nominated in July, pledged a bold 300-trillion-won K-culture industry by 2030. Since his inauguration, the 61-year-old has been hearing on-site opinions from diverse cultural sectors ranging from films and books to art.

The minister said he plans to expand the portion of government spending on cultural sectors to 2 percent from the current 1.31 percent in the near future.

"Adjustments to policy and regulation depend on the budget. If that doesn't change, there isn't much we can do," he said.

A total of 9.6 trillion won has been allocated to cultural sectors for next year, up 9 percent from what was allocated for this year.

"We have to reach at least 2 percent, although not right now," he said. "Korea's cultural budget is still mid to low tier among OECD countries."

The minister also hinted at fostering a domestic streaming platform to rival Netflix.

"One option to tackle issues on IP rights and other downsides of streaming giants is that domestic producers have to have alternatives. They are lining up to Netflix because they cannot get any investment from others, and they are signing up to unfavorable contracts," he said. "I believe there needs to be an alternative retail channel."

Korea's renowned film director Lee Chang-dong, a Cannes recipient, recently announced his next project is a Netflix one, a surprise move for many since most legacy directors tend to stick to cinema.

"Lee chose Netflix because he couldn't secure enough budget to make the film," Chae said. "He applied for government funding, which we gave out, but he couldn't find investors to fill in for the remaining budget, so he returned the funds we paid him and went to Netflix."

Despite such hardships, momentum is here for sure, according to the minister.

"During the recent 2025 APEC High-Level Dialogue on Cultural and Creative Industries, I got a lot of requests for one-on-one talks and I wondered why," he said. "I think it's because we are considered a role model for some countries since we weren't a powerful, big country like China or Japan from the beginning, but grew so much from the remnants of wars. It could serve as an exemplary case for them."

Chae pointed out inefficient budget allocation and lack of concert venues for K-pop acts as some imminent problems that need to be solved.

"Japan has five domes that can accommodate more than 40,000 seats and is building an additional one. And Korea has none. K-pop fans are coming to Korea to watch their favorite artists' concerts but due to lack of venues, K-pop concerts are not being held constantly," he said.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [[email protected]]