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The South Korean culture ministry announced a set of measures on Thursday to boost the spread of the country's cultural products in the East Asia region as the increasing demand for such products offers huge potential for economic growth.
As part of the efforts, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will open an Indonesian branch of the Korea Creative Content Agency in Jakarta in September, which is expected to serve as a regional strategic point that will spearhead the distribution and boost of Korean cultural products, including K-pop, movies, books and games, in the area.
In the following month, a big expo is slated to take place in Jakarta that will offer counseling for prospective importers of Korean cultural products, exhibition of such goods, and K-pop concerts.
Separately, the ministry will provide companies engaged in business in the region with legal assistance on various issues including copyright protection.
In the music sector, the ministry will help sponsor a big music expo or mass entertainment event, such as KCON and Mnet Asia Music Awards, given the high cost and low margin of an individual concert by Korean artists. To export more Korean books, it will open a book fair to study the regional book market and offer Korean writers more chances to have their books published in the region.
If the plans go smoothly, the ministry expects to increase export volumes by 15 percent to US$1.6 billion on an annual basis by 2018.
"With these measures, I hope the export of cultural products serves as a core engine to pull our exports-driven economy and help Korea maintain and expand amicable relationships with East Asian countries," Minister Kim Jong-deok said.
