Liberal Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate front-runner Rep. Lee Jae-myung said he would work to support Korea's content industries related to arts and culture, which he said could annually generate a total of 300 trillion won ($211 billion) in sales and 50 trillion won in exports by 2030.
According to the latest government estimate unveiled in March, South Korea's content industries in 2023 generated a total revenue of 154.2 trillion won, while total exports stood at $13.3 billion.
If elected president, Lee will "significantly increase financial support for the entries of K-food, K-beauty, K-pop, K-dramas and K-webtoons into markets overseas," he wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. Lee added he would work to allocate more state budget to the country's content-related sector, which currently accounts for only 1.33 percent of national expenditures this year.
The state support will also go to content creation and production, overseas market outreach translation and content distribution for small to medium-sized businesses. Lee pledged policy loans and tax breaks for R&D related to Korean culture and the arts.
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