[Exclusive] ‘Cheongnyeon Culture and Arts Pass’ Ignored by Youth... Less Than One-Third of Last Year’s Budget Spent

150,000 KRW Annual Support for 19-Year-Olds' Performance and Exhibition Fees
Total Budget of 23.3 Billion KRW, Only 31% Spent
Actual Usage Rate at 53%... Half Did Not Participate
"Expand Eligible Age Range and Performance Genres"

It has been revealed that the ‘Youth Culture and Arts Pass’ project, introduced last year under the strong will of Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has not achieved the expected results. Although it was promoted to expand cultural enjoyment opportunities for young people, the usage rate in 2024 remained at about 50% of the total target population, and the budget consumption rate stayed in the 30% range. Experts pointed out that measures such as relaxing age restrictions and allowing multiple payments should be considered to improve user convenience, and they also emphasized the need to strengthen nationwide promotion.

According to the ‘2024 Youth Culture and Arts Pass Status’ data submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Park Soo-hyun, a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea on the 5th, the nationwide usage rate last year was only 53% (67,000 people). The budget consumption rate was also 31% (7.3 billion KRW), confirming that 16 billion KRW out of the total budget of 23.3 billion KRW was not used.

The Youth Culture and Arts Pass is a project that supports 19-year-olds with annual performance and exhibition viewing fees worth 100,000 to 150,000 KRW. Through 100,000 KRW of national funding and 50,000 KRW of local government subsidies per person, it provides opportunities to experience various cultural arts such as theater, musicals, classical music, opera, ballet, dance, Korean traditional music, and exhibitions. This project was introduced to revitalize the pure arts market and promote cultural consumption among young people.

Among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, Seoul had the highest usage rate at 59% (15,400 people), followed by Gyeonggi at 56% (20,600 people), Incheon at 58% (4,700 people), and Sejong at 55% (700 people). On the other hand, Jeonbuk and Jeonnam had the lowest rates at 42% (1,800 people) each.

The budget consumption rate was also highest in Seoul at 45% (1.8 billion KRW), but it did not reach half of the total budget. The consumption rate in Gyeonggi, where the project budget is about twice that of Seoul, was only 33% (2.1 billion KRW), and except for Incheon (38%, 500 million KRW) and Sejong (40%, 100 million KRW), the remaining 13 regions showed low consumption rates in the 10-20% range.

Additionally, there were many cases where the Youth Culture and Arts Pass was issued but not used. Last year, the nationwide issuance rate reached 80% (128,000 people), but the actual usage rate showed a large gap at 53%. In Seoul, the issuance rate was 100% (26,000 people), but the actual usage rate was only 59%.

The total number of uses in 2024 was 120,000, with 67,500 users averaging 1.8 uses each. The average amount spent per use was 60,000 KRW.

Assemblyman Park said, "It is necessary to improve the system as a good policy aimed at expanding cultural enjoyment opportunities for young people has not fully utilized the budget," and emphasized, "The scope of benefits should be expanded and promotion strengthened to enhance the effectiveness of the system."

Lee Jong-gyu, director of the Korea Musical Association, pointed out, "Limiting the target to 19-year-olds makes the base population too small," and added, "Unless you are a fan, it is rare to go to a performance alone, and there are many restrictions on going together, so usage tends to be low." He also added, "Promotion needs to be further strengthened to inform more young people."