Issue Focus

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) has announced its 2025 budget, which has grown by 2.4%, totaling 7.1214 trillion KRW. This makes it the second instance of surpassing the 7 trillion KRW mark since 2022. Significant portions of this budget are designated for expanding the Global League Fund to draw foreign investments and bolstering content industries with 400 billion KRW from the government.
Substantial investments are allocated to cultural and sports sectors, with the culture and arts sector seeing a 1.7% increase to 2.4090 trillion KRW and the sports sector experiencing a 3.6% rise to 1.6751 trillion KRW. Notable initiatives include the 'Korea Culture City' project with a 400 billion KRW budget, as well as new funding for local tourism projects and strategies to counteract low birthrates.
Additional funds are earmarked to support the film industry, animation, gaming, and publishing sectors. This includes increased budgets for film production, a new fund for animation, and extended international backing for webtoons and comics. The budget also incorporates 32 billion KRW for promoting reading and enhancing cultural facilities at the Blue House. Moreover, the integrated cultural access card support for basic livelihood recipients will receive increased funding and expanded coverage.