The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) announced its major plans for 2023 on January 5 (Thur), under the vision of “National Leap and Happiness of the People Led by K-culture.”

In 2022, the culture, sports, and tourism industries saw considerable success. The content industry spearheaded by K-content established itself as Korea’s major export industry[1], and the popularity of K-culture witnessed around the world raised Korean people’s pride in our culture[2]. Thanks to the easing of COVID-19 regulations to enter the country, the number of foreign tourists increased by 235% year-on-year in 2022, signaling that the status of K-tourism is also on the path of recovery. Cheong Wa Dae (The Blue House) was opened to the public, redesigned as a space where history, culture and arts, natural heritage (arboretum), and traditional cultural heritage breathe among the people. The Yoon administration expanded “vulnerable-friendly policies,” as the first-ever government administration in Korea to establish the “Basic Plan to Support Culture and Art Activities of Artists with Disabilities,” to guarantee fair access to culture, while also broadening the horizon of sports events, such as successfully winning the bid to host the 2027 Summer World University Games and creating a safety management model through private-public cooperation in the Korean Series(The final championship series of the KBO League).

➊ (K-content, a game changer transforming the export landscape) ▲ offering full-cycle support for content startups and ventures, ▲ providing policy financing of KRW 790 billion, the largest in history, ▲ cultivating 10,000 content-related talents, ▲ expanding the entry of content companies into 15 overseas hubs, ▲supporting the export of K-content-related industries through K-Expo, the K-brand promotion venue

➋ (2023, Korea’s year one as a major tourist nation) ▲ implementing 2023 Visit Korea Year, ▲ hosting 100 K-culture events and “K-Tourism Road Show” in 15 cities around the world, ▲ developing the Blue House History and Culture Tour Cluster

➌ (Art, K-culture’s next-generation leader) ▲ offering first-time support for young adult artists and strengthening the hands-on competency of art students at universities (new; KRW 5.8 billion), ▲ supporting K-culture’s overseas expansion by category, including the operation of Korean literature distribution platform (KLWAVE), ▲building and opening “Art Korea Lab” (to be completed in June 2023)

➍ (Culture-led balanced regional growth) ▲ designating Culture Cities of Korea (7 cities), ▲ providing customized support for culturally vulnerable regions, ▲ revitalizing regional tourism through programs such as K-tourism Recreation Belt (KRW 3 trillion, provisional; 2023-2033) and branding “K-tourism islands that people want to visit”

➎ (Culture enjoyed by all through “vulnerable-friendly” policies and programs) ▲ implementing the priority purchase of artworks by artists with disabilities (March) and opening a standard performance hall for artists with disabilities (June), ▲ creating a disability-friendly exhibition experience environment at museums and hosting the first-ever e-sports competition for persons with disabilities, ▲ discovering “Story Grandma (senior story artist)” stars

➏ (K-sports reacceleration) ▲“Exercising Koreans Incentive Project” (up to KRW 50,000; 100,000 participants), ▲ newly launching projects that support the establishment of school sports teams (20 schools), ▲easing regulation standards regarding the number of recognized attendances for student athletes, ▲ branding and promoting major K-sports such as ssireum (traditional Korean wrestling)

For more information, please refer to the attached file.