Overview
- The Culture Ministry announced on Thursday, May 28, 2026 that it will aim for a 400 trillion‑won K‑culture market by 2030 and $110 billion in exports, up sharply from previous targets.
- The ministry broadened the K‑culture definition to add lifestyle sectors such as food, beauty and fashion plus inbound tourism, and reported K‑culture exports of $71.8 billion in 2025 under that wider scope.
- Under the expanded count roughly 80% of the 2025 export total comes from lifestyle categories while traditional content and arts exports are about $14.2 billion, showing the jump is mostly definitional.
- Officials said the new figures are not yet Korea’s official statistics and that the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute is in talks with the National Data Agency to formalize K‑culture as a stand‑alone industrial category.
- To back the push the ministry has adopted IP protections and enforcement measures—an emergency content‑blocking system took effect on May 11 and anti‑scalping enforcement is due in August—while planning a global 'Phenomenon' festival, a touring awards show from spring 2028 and performance centres in seven foreign cities.