[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government has announced plans to strengthen the competitiveness of the content industry, including online games and videos, aiming to achieve 700,000 jobs and 2,000 companies with sales exceeding 10 billion KRW by 2022.
The Presidential Committee on Jobs recently held the '18th Jobs Committee Meeting' and announced the 'Content Industry Job Creation and Safety Net Enhancement Plan,' jointly prepared with related ministries.
Through this plan, the goal is to achieve 700,000 jobs, 2,000 content companies with sales over 10 billion KRW, and exports of 13.42 billion USD by 2022.
Last year, South Korea's content exports recorded 10.39 billion USD, surpassing 10 billion USD for the first time in history. Following the Korean drama wave, various genres of popular culture content such as K-pop and webtoons are gaining popularity worldwide.
Recently, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), face-to-face markets such as movies and popular music have shrunk, increasing the importance of developing online content and pioneering new markets.
However, most content companies are small-scale and have a hiring structure centered on freelancers and other non-regular workers, resulting in a lack of good jobs. Nine out of ten domestic content companies (90.7%) have fewer than 10 employees, and 89% have sales under 1 billion KRW.
Accordingly, the government plans to create quality jobs by supporting the strengthening of competitiveness in the content industry.
First, it will discover next-generation content companies based on content, data, artificial intelligence, and 5G, and expand customized startup support according to growth stages.
Startup spaces and equipment will be supported mainly through the Content Company Incubation Center, Content Korea Lab (CKL), Music Creation Studio, and Global Game Center, promoting collaboration among creators and producers within regions.
Support will also be provided for next-generation content production by genre. Next year, budgets of 5 billion KRW and 5.3 billion KRW will be invested respectively in developing world-leading content based on new technologies such as cloud and blockchain, and producing 5G-based online immersive games.
Additionally, the plan includes ▲support for online K-pop performance content production (6.5 billion KRW) ▲support for convergence projects combining music content and new technologies (4.2 billion KRW) ▲expansion of independent and art film production support (8 billion KRW) ▲support for next-generation online animation (18.8 billion KRW).
The size of the content venture investment fund will expand from 87.3 billion KRW this year to 150 billion KRW next year. The 'Smart Korea Fund,' jointly established by private mentors and the Korea Fund of Funds, will raise a total of 60 trillion KRW by 2025.
An advisory group composed of experts in each field will be formed to consult on export companies' difficulties, and business centers will be operated in major content consumption markets to connect local buyers, supporting exports.
Efforts will also be made to nurture talent equipped with the capabilities needed by the industry. The Film Academy will be expanded next year with a budget of 8 billion KRW, and efforts will be made to discover and educate writers and develop scenarios (5.8 billion KRW) through the Scenario Creation Center.
The Game Talent Institute will revise its curriculum to reflect environmental changes, and a 'Webtoon Convergence Center,' the largest domestic webtoon cluster facility worth 50 billion KRW, will be established in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Additionally, ▲internships will be newly established for outstanding graduates of the industry-academia cooperative education program 'One Campus' (4.1 billion KRW, about 1,700 people) ▲strengthening industry-academia linkage such as introducing contract departments in the content field ▲industry-led education through joint projects between large companies and startups will be promoted.
Furthermore, next year, tax credits will be promoted for online videos distributed through Over-The-Top (OTT) services to reduce the burden on businesses.
Employment insurance for artists will be applied to freelancers working in the content industry, and support will be provided for institutional stabilization.
Support for vulnerable workers will be strengthened, including short-term unemployment support for field filmmakers, education support for cartoonists with career interruptions, and creative preparation funds for low-income artists. Efforts to establish and revise standard contracts (currently 49 types in 9 fields) will also continue.
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