President Lee: "We Must Revive the Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Even If It Means a Supplementary Budget"

Kang Yoo-jung Briefs from the Blue House
Culture Budget Accounts for Only 1.28% of Total
Lee: "An Increase in Budget and Private Investment Is Urgently Needed"

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Senior Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House on the 15th. Photo by Yonhap News

On January 15, President Lee Jae-myung called for "reviving the foundation of culture and the arts in a healthy way, even if it means drawing up a supplementary budget."

According to Kang Yoo-jung, spokesperson for the Blue House, President Lee made these remarks during a Senior Secretary Meeting after receiving a report on culture-related policies. He stated, "Support for the culture and arts sector is far too insufficient, so we need to increase direct support." President Lee also pointed out, "There are too few people responsible for culture and arts administration, and there is a lack of public-private cooperation," emphasizing that "an increase in the budget and private investment is urgently needed."

He further stressed, "The culture and arts sector is being almost neglected. We must further strengthen the foundation of K-culture, which is attracting global attention."

Spokesperson Kang explained, "Our national culture budget is 1.28% of the total budget," adding, "This is a low level for a country aspiring to be a cultural leader." Kang continued, "K-culture is regarded as a key asset for Korea across various industries, but there are many appeals that the cultural foundation is drying up," and shared, "The President commented that perhaps more support should be provided through a supplementary budget."

However, Kang clarified, "It was not a directive to implement a supplementary budget, but rather an emphasis on the need for greater support," and added, "No specific figures regarding the scale of the supplementary budget were mentioned."

The issue of converting non-regular workers to regular positions was also discussed at the meeting. After receiving a report on the 'generational employment gap,' President Lee noted, "The system that requires non-regular workers to be converted to regular status after two consecutive years of employment has many loopholes," and instructed, "Identify the actual conditions and realities on the ground and improve the system."

Regarding the severance pay system, he said, "We need to give more consideration to short-term contract workers who are in vulnerable employment situations," and requested, "Please look into ways to provide severance pay in the public sector without being bound to the one-year period."

Meanwhile, President Lee recently questioned whether large corporate bakeries are being used for tax evasion and instructed that countermeasures be reviewed.