On July 31, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young was officially inaugurated and announced plans to open an era of a 300 trillion won K-Culture market and 30 million foreign tourists. He also emphasized strengthening the foundations of culture and the arts, creating conditions for all citizens to enjoy culture in their daily lives, and enhancing Korea's status as a leading nation in sports.
At the inauguration ceremony held at the Government Complex Sejong on this day, Minister Choi stated, "I feel a heavy sense of responsibility as I take on the important role of Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, tasked with realizing a nation that leads the world through the power of advanced culture," and expressed his determination by saying, "I will lay a stronger foundation to further enhance the potential of our culture."
Minister Choi mentioned artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the limitless competition in the global market, noting that although this is a time of great and confusing transformation, "our culture is attracting the attention of people around the world," and emphasized that K-Culture has become a source of national pride.
Minister Choi also shared his philosophy on culture, saying, "Having started as a journalist and built expertise and experience in platforms, digital content, and tourism during the era of digital transformation, I have concluded that it is difficult to create new success stories with 'technology without inspiration,' 'technology that does not prioritize people,' or 'technology without culture.'"
Minister Choi stressed that he would strengthen support for the content industry to reinforce its status as a core national industry.
"The content industry has shown an average annual growth of about 6% and is a key national industry, but the film industry is facing difficulties due to COVID-19 and the impact of global online video services (OTT), and the game industry, which has driven content exports, saw a decrease in export growth rate in 2023. We will strengthen policy financing, tax support, innovation in cultural technology R&D, and support for global expansion to help content companies achieve sustainable growth based on content intellectual property (IP)."
Minister Choi also said, "AI technology is fundamentally restructuring industrial frameworks," and added, "We will support the development of Korean AI that reflects our history and culture." He further stated, "We will support K-Food, K-Beauty, and K-Fashion in creating new value by infusing them with the values, philosophies, and stories embedded in our culture."
Minister Choi also expressed his commitment to supporting free artistic creation.
He said, "Art is a flower that blooms in freedom," and added, "We will establish a foundation for free artistic creation, build a welfare safety net so that artists can focus on their creative work, and improve the support system for culture and the arts to strengthen their foundations."
Regarding the environment that allows all citizens to enjoy culture in their daily lives, he emphasized, "We will address the blind spots in cultural welfare so that no one is excluded from culture due to socioeconomic conditions, or differences between regions, classes, or generations."
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