ministry of culture sport and tourism korea

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South Korea determined to become tourism powerhouse

SEOUL – South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is going all out to make the country another Asian tourism powerhouse and create a more enjoyable tourism environment for domestic holidaymakers.

In a press briefing in Seoul on Dec 8, Second Vice-Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Jang Mi-ran expressed high hopes to turn South Korea into an appealing destination for both foreigners and locals, and exceed pre-pandemic visitor levels in 2024.

“I engaged in various tourism-related meetings with local governments, agencies and firms to gather perspectives from industry professionals, but there were not a lot of unique or special tourism products or festivals,” Ms Jang said in a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, central Seoul.

“It is important to create tourism products that are appealing to locals and approved by them. We are recommending or introducing things if we like them first. I personally feel this applies to tourism as well,” the Vice-Minister told The Korea Herald.

Ms Jang said tourism major students who share their individual travel experiences on various social media platforms can offer realistic suggestions and showcase the charms of their home towns, as well as areas of improvement. She added that she wanted to spend more time with such students to understand the local tourism landscape.

She also emphasised the importance of creating a safer tourism environment for global and domestic visitors.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is set to organise a public participatory inspection team to root out rip-offs and discriminatory pricing. A separate team will be launched to deal with such cases and assist visitors who file complaints.

The ministry has decided to increase the number of K-tourism roadshows – which are promotional events held overseas to showcase South Korea’s traditional and contemporary cultures – from 15 to 25 in 2024.

Chinese tourists will continue to be exempt from visa fees. This was temporarily applied to Chinese travellers from September to December, and will be extended to 2024. Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia will be included in the list of exempt countries.

According to Ms Jang, travel-friendly services – such as a foreigner-exclusive mobile app for train, bus and taxi services, and an English-language navigation app – will be made available in 2024.

To quench tourists’ thirst for Korean content-related events, beauty festivals, K-pop shows, food fairs, e-sports experiences and medical tourism packages, as well as meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions tourism packages, will be expanded as well.

“We hope to attract 20 million global visitors to Korea in 2024, and exceed the pre-pandemic number of foreign travellers from 2019. We will also make the utmost effort to collaborate with local governments and tourism-related firms to support mass tourism,” she said.

In 2022, South Korea welcomed approximately 3.2 million inbound visitors, according to the Korea Tourism Organisation. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic, the country had a record 17.5 million inbound tourists in 2019. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIAN NEWS NETWORK

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Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea Partnership

In June 2020, the V&A announced a landmark partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea. The five-year partnership and a major grant will enable the redevelopment of the museum's Korean Gallery, as well as support an expansion in future programming dedicated to contemporary Korean culture.

V&A curator Dr Rosalie Kim will lead the research and development plans to improve the current Korean Gallery with a new curatorial narrative, rarely-seen objects, recent acquisitions and new display cases.

Plans for the next five years also include additional resources to raise awareness of Korean culture across the museum's programming, including an Artist in Residency, a series of publications, and new learning programmes, such as conferences and family activities. Leading creatives from Korea will also have the opportunity to showcase their work to our audiences through existing and popular events including Fashion in Motion and Friday Late.

This project represents one of our most ambitious international partnerships to date. This landmark initiative enables us to celebrate the diversity of our collections, foster international dialogue and exchange, and introduce new audiences to Korean cultural history.

Our collections

We have collected art and design objects from Korea since 1888 and opened the Korean Gallery in 1992 – the first permanent gallery devoted to Korean art in London. Spanning 4 AD to the present day, the collection encompasses ceramics, embroidery, lacquerware, metalwork, fashion, graphic design and digital art. Among the displayed objects are a royal embroidered folding screen, sumptuous inlaid celadon bottles and metalwork, contemporary hanbok fashion, craft and design, and Park Young Sook's monumental vessel Moon Jar. Korean ceramics, both historical and contemporary, also feature prominently in the ceramics galleries.

Korea at the V&A

The V&A has been displaying Korean art since 1914, beginning with the exhibition of Aubrey Le Blond's famed collection of ceramics. In 1918, his loan to the Museum was transformed into a gift in recognition of the newly published V&A catalogue dedicated to his collection. In 1961, the V&A inaugurated The National Art Treasures of Korea – the first exhibition of its kind to be held in Europe. Organised by Dr. Kim Jae-Won, the first Director of the National Museum of Korea (1909 – 1990), and coordinated by the British connoisseur of Korean art Godfrey St. G. M. Gompertz (1904 – 1992), the seminal show offered an impressive display of 152 works representing the finest achievements of Korean art. More recently, the V&A presented Contemporary Korean Ceramics from May 2017 to February 2018 – a display highlighting the rich diversity of contemporary studio ceramic practices in Korea.

A variety of activities and public programmes have taken place at the V&A, showcasing traditional and contemporary Korean culture. In 2013, a Friday Late on the theme of Ogam (five senses) explored the dynamic Korean contemporary art and design scene, where tradition, pop-culture and technological innovation collide and cross-pollinate. The following year, the Museum celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with a large Chuseok Korean Family Day. This free event offered a wide range of activities and performances for families to engage with, including traditional Korean costume, storytelling, musical performances, family games and a drop-in design activity. Since then, Chuseok costume and storytelling family events are regularly held at the Museum.

The V&A welcomed Kang Yiyun as the Samsung Korean Digital Artist in Residence in 2015/16, followed by Korean ceramic artist Kim Juree and British artist Neil Brownsword who shared the Artist in Residence in 2017/18 as part of the UK/Korea season. During the same season, the Museum also collaborated with the Korean Craft and Design Foundation on a two-week professional development programme for emerging Korean jewellery designers.

The V&A has partnered with the Korea Foundation on their Global Challengers Programme since 2013, inviting every year a young Korean graduate or professional for an internship at the Museum to gain experience working with its Korean collection.

Notable is the 2013 bilingual English-Korean catalogue Korean Art Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum by V&A Publishing and National Research Institute for Cultural Heritage of Korea (NRICH) with an introduction by Dr Rosalie Kim.

V&A in Korea

We have been sending touring exhibitions to Korea for over 10 years. Recent highlights include Winnie the Pooh: Exploring a Classic showing at SOMA in Seoul in 2019; Jameel Prize 4 touring to the Asia Cultural Centre in Gwangju in 2017; Owen Jones: Islamic Design, Discovery and Vision shown at the Aram Art Gallery in Goyang in 2012; Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum presented at the National Museum of Korea in Seoulin 2011, and World Ceramics: Masterpieces from the V&A at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center in Seoul in 2008.

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

Published : Jan. 6, 2023 - 13:55

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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."

Articles by Park Ga-young

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S. Korea's content industry exports hit all-time high in 2021

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports of cultural content hit an all-time high of US$12.4 billion for the country in 2021, boosted by the global boom of Korean pop culture, a government report showed Wednesday.

According to a 2021 research study on the cultural content industry released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the industry's exports increased 4.4 percent to $12.45 billion in 2021 from $11.92 billion in 2020.

The content industry is an umbrella term for organizations that make copyrighted works available to the public, such as publishing, music, games, broadcasting, films, cartoons, animation, characters, advertising, knowledge information and content solutions.

The director and cast of "Squid Game" attend a press conference in Seoul, in this file photo taken Sept. 16, 2022, to mark the dystopian drama winning Emmy awards. The global smash hit Korean-language Netflix show won six Emmys -- best director, best actor, guest acting, stunts, production design and visual effects -- at the 74th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 12. (Yonhap)

The industry has already become a major sector of the country's exports with its total exports reaching far more than home appliances ($8.67 billion), secondary batteries ($8.67 billion), electric vehicles ($6.99 billion) and display panels ($3.6 billion), according to the ministry.

According to a 2022 report from the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea, exports of consumer goods, such as cosmetics and food, increase by $180 million when exports of cultural content increase by $100 million.

The total revenue of the content industry in 2021 stood at 137.5 trillion won (US$107 billion), up 7.1 percent from 128.3 trillion won in the previous year.

There was a 9.1 percent on-year rise in the number of businesses in the industry to about 109,000, but the number of workers decreased 4.8 percent to about 611,000.

"Although the economic situation is expected to be difficult this year, the content industry is expected to maintain steady growth," Culture Minister Park Bo-gyoon said. "We plan to focus on fostering the content industry as promoting and increasing exports of the industry is a major national task."

The study was based on surveys conducted by the ministry on businesses and three affiliated organizations on businesses in the industry's 11 subfields. It will be published as a report late this month, according to the ministry.

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Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea

Founded in 2008, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea is the government ministry responsible for the development and promotion of culture, arts, sports and tourism in Korea. While the ministry does not directly oversee higher education in Korea, it does play a role in supporting cultural and sports-related activities and programs within universities and other higher education institutions. The ministry provides funding and support for cultural and sports events and programs that are hosted by universities, as well as for research and development projects related to culture, arts, sports and tourism. It also works with universities and other institutions to promote the development of cultural and sports-related industries and to foster collaborations and partnerships between academia and industry in these fields. The ministry also oversees the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation and the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, both of which provide funding and support for cultural and sports-related programs and projects. In addition to supporting cultural and sports-related activities in higher education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also plays an important role in promoting Korean culture and tourism globally. The ministry works to promote Korean culture and arts through various international events and initiatives and to attract tourists from around the world to visit Korea. Considering all this, according to uniRank the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea plays an important role in supporting cultural and sports-related activities in higher education, as well as in promoting Korean culture and tourism globally.

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Korea to create sports-themed tours for young travelers

Esports, cycling, taekwondo-themed programs to be offered to unlock inbound tourism potential

Korea aims to launch esports and sports-themed tour programs targeting young travelers this year, travel authorities said, Tuesday.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) held the organization’s annual business briefing session with some 250 government and industry officials in Seoul, Tuesday.

“Esports is emerging as one of the key pillars to the new wave of Korean culture and Korea has the best infrastructure (as an esports travel destination), such as professional players with global fandoms and elite academies,” Cho Hee-jin, the KTO’s executive director of the international marketing department, said.

“The KTO plans to make full use of that to promote the country as an esports pilgrimage destination (for avid game fans) and work with local LoL professional players, influencers, media and tour agencies to make guided tours and present them in global roadshows,” she said, referring to the KTO’s scheme to unfold large-scale marketing events in 25 cities around the world this year.

Seven esports games, including League of Legends (LoL), were selected for the first time as an official event of the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year and Korea proved its prowess as an esports powerhouse by clinching four medals and ranking second after China.

According to the leading game data platform Newzoo’s 2022 report, the global esports market is worth $1.38 billion in revenue and has around 532 million audience. The market will generate around $1.87 billion in revenue globally with global audience numbers expected to surpass 640 million by 2025, the report said.

Last year’s final match of the LoL World Championship showed the industry’s tourism effect. Foreign nationals filled around 15 percent of the 18,000 seats at the event at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, which were sold out instantly, and over 15,000 global and domestic fans gathered for the live street event at Gwanghwamun Square.

In response, the KTO aims to launch esports-themed programs during the fourth quarter of this year.

The package will feature mega fan meetups with Korean professional gamers and some 1,000 global fans, as well as LoL coaching sessions, visits to the national LoL club and experiences related to the local PC room culture here.

Additionally, the organization will launch sports-themed programs, such as national park trekking and bike riding courses countrywide, as well as winter sports tours targeting visitors from Southeast Asian countries and Australia, which experience little to no snowfall.

According to a global cycling tour operator Explore Worldwide, Korea ranked seventh among countries that saw the biggest jump in interest in bike tours last year, based on Google search volume.

Also, as the home country to Taekwondo, the KTO will work with the Taekwondo Park in the alpine town of Muju, North Jeolla Province, to offer sport-themed experiences.

These programs aim to attract young, free independent travelers who map out their own itineraries based on personal interests, according to the organization.

Meanwhile, Culture Minister Yu In-chon met with 32 heads of KTO’s overseas offices based in 22 countries to discuss regional inbound tourism strategies.

In celebration of the 2023-2024 Visit Korea Year, the ministry aims to attain 20 million tourists this year, surpassing the pre-pandemic record of 17.5 million in 2019.

Korea saw 11.03 million inbound tourists in 2023, which is a 245-percent jump from the previous year and a 63-percent recovery from 2019, according to the KTO, Tuesday.

By country, Japan topped the list with 2.32 million visitors, followed by China with 2.02 million, the United States with 1.09 million, Taiwan and Vietnam with some 960,000 and 420,000 visitors, respectively.

Korea received more than 1 million inbound tourists per month between July and December last year.

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Park Bo-gyoon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, speaks during the press briefing on Thursday in central Seoul. [MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM]

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South Korea determined to become tourism powerhouse

With plans to prepare for the Visit Korea Year 2023-24 campaign, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is going all out to make Korea another Asian tourism powerhouse and create a more enjoyable tourism environment for domestic holidaymakers.

In a press briefing in Seoul on Thursday, Jang Mi-ran -- the second vice minister of culture, sports and tourism -- expressed high hopes to turn Korea into an appealing destination for both foreigners and locals, exceeding pre-pandemic visitor levels in 2024.

“I engaged in various tourism-related meetings with local governments, agencies and firms to gather perspectives from industry professionals (since my appointment in July), but there were not a lot of unique or special tourism products or festivals,” Jang said in a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu , central Seoul.

“It is important to create tourism products that are appealing to locals and approved by them. We are recommending or introducing things if we like them first. I felt this applies to tourism as well,” the vice minister told The Korea Herald .

Young tourism major students who share their individual travel experiences on various social media platforms can offer realistic suggestions and showcase the charms of their hometowns, as well as areas of improvement, Jang said. She said she wanted to spend more time with such students to understand the local tourism landscape.

The vice minister emphasized the importance of creating a safer tourism environment for global and domestic visitors as well.

The Culture Ministry is set to organize a public-participatory inspection team to root out rip-offs and discriminatory pricing. A separate team will be launched to deal with such cases and assist visitors who file complaints.

The ministry decided to increase the number of K-tourism roadshows -- promotional events held overseas to showcase Korea’s traditional and contemporary culture -- from 15 to 25 in 2024.

Exempting Chinese tourists from visa issuance fees, which were temporarily applied to Chinese travellers from September to December, will be extended to 2024.

Vietnam , the Philippines and Indonesia will be included in the list of exempt countries.

According to Jang, travel-friendly services like a foreigner-exclusive mobile app for train, bus and taxi services, and an English navigation app will be available in 2024.

To quench tourists’ thirst for Korean content-related events, beauty festivals, K-pop shows, food fairs, e-sports experiences, medical tourism packages and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions tourism packages are expected to be expanded as well.

“We hope to attract 20 million global visitors to Korea in 2024 and exceed the pre-pandemic number of foreign travellers from 2019. We will also make the utmost effort to collaborate with local governments and tourism-related firms to support mass tourism,” the Culture Ministry official said.

In 2022, the country welcomed approximately 3.2 million inbound visitors, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic, Korea had a record of 17.5 million inbound tourists in 2019.

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