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Korea encourages cultural participation with second round of voucher benefits through December

Published: 23 Sep. 2025, 15:10 Updated: 23 Sep. 2025, 19:03

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Ensemble cast members perform in Act 1, Scene 1, of ″Moulin Rouge! The Musical.″ [CJ ENM]

Korea will distribute a second batch of vouchers offering discounts of 10,000 won ($7.30) for performances and 3,000 won for exhibitions from Thursday.

The second round adds more online booking sites, shortens the vouchers' expiry to one week and raises discounts for events outside the greater Seoul area.

A total of 360,000 discount coupons for performances and 1.37 million discount coupons will be distributed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Arts Management Service and Arts Council Korea, according to the ministry on Tuesday. The combined 1.73 million is down from 2.1 million vouchers issued in the first round through last Friday.

One-week expiry

Each person can claim up to two vouchers a week through Dec. 3, available on seven platforms — Melon Ticket, Clip Service, Time Ticket, Ticketlink, Yes24, Naver and NOL, with the last two newly added. The vouchers must be used for events scheduled before or on Dec. 31.

Foreign nationals can sign up for the vouchers if they are able to create an account on the booking systems, which will require self-identification through a Korean number.

Vouchers will now expire in one week, with tickets issued at 2 p.m. every Thursday. Each must be used to make a reservation by 11:59 p.m. the following Wednesday.

The ministry said the step is aimed at preventing a repeat of unused reservations during the first round, when a high percentage of vouchers were not used within the six-week limit.

Performances must total at least 15,000 won and exhibitions 5,000 won for the discount to apply. One voucher can be used per transaction, but multiple tickets may be purchased at once to meet the minimum amount.

Use outside capital encouraged

Visitors look around the exhibition hall during a press tour for a special exhibition of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Sept. 22. [JEON MIN-KYU]

Like the first round, the discounts can be applied when booking plays, musicals, classical music, gugak (traditional Korean music), dance and multidisciplinary works. Pop concerts and popular dance events are not covered.

The exhibition discounts apply to public and private galleries, including for visual arts exhibitions, art fairs and biennales, but exclude industrial expos.

At Clip Service, Time Ticket, Ticketlink and Naver, users can receive more benefits when booking for events outside the greater Seoul area. Individuals who sign up for such vouchers can claim two additional tickets each week. Discounts are steeper — 15,000 won for performances and 5,000 won for exhibitions — but the minimum required amount is also higher at 22,000 won for performances and 7,000 won for exhibitions.

"We have added more benefits to performance and exhibition vouchers, so people can enjoy cultural activities more often and more easily," said an official from the ministry. "We hope more people will use them to bring performances and exhibitions into their daily lives."

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]