Korea aims for more award-winning works with 1-trillion-won investment

The government will put together a 1 trillion won ($752 million) fund to create "at least" Emmy or Academy award-winning works, Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In-chon speaks during a presentation of the ministry's new strategy to boost Korean video content at the Modu Art Theater in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

The government will put together a 1 trillion won ($752 million) fund to create "at least" five Emmy or Academy award-winning works, Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday.

Yu In-chon, the newly-appointed Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced the ministry's plan to boost the quickly growing video content market with the goal of increasing the market size by 6.1 percent to 40 trillion won and raising video exports by 11.9 percent to 1.8 billion won by 2027.

The announcement came as Minister Yu's first policy proposal since taking office on Oct. 7, after meeting with video content and entertainment industry insiders on Oct. 23 and discussing the needs for vitalizing the industry.

Funds, tax cuts and support programs for both creators and distributors will be established with the goal of revitalizing the film market and accelerating the growth of the online streaming market.

A 1-trillion-won fund will be put together by 2028 with the aim of creating megahit content for the global market. Six hundred billion won of the budget will be used in 2024. The new fund will include providing financial resources to invest in large-scale projects, not only in small- and medium-sized businesses.

Starting next year, the tax credit rate for video content production costs will be significantly increased to up to 30 percent for small- and medium-sized businesses. Costs related to pre-production planning may also be subject to deductions in the future, the ministry said.

Plans to amend the structure in which all intellectual property (IP) is taken by streaming service companies, rather than the content creators or producers, will be initiated. A specialized fund will be created to invest in projects on the condition that production companies secure the IP of the projects, while contracts that avoid making creators hand over all the IP rights to streaming services will be encouraged.

To strengthen the rights of creators, the Culture Ministry will provide forums for dialogue with industry insiders to discuss compensation plans that will seek sustainable and reasonable payment for creators. In addition, the government will strengthen copyright protection by working with foreign investigative agencies to crack down on websites that illegally distribute video content.

“Our video content industry has great power and could demonstrate its capabilities on the international stage if it receives more support,” Yu said Tuesday. "We will find ways to support content creators and start implementing these policies from next year.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]