Culture ministry opens debate on overhaul of arts promotion law

The culture ministry said it will hold a policy forum on Oct. 28 to gather views from artists and arts organizations on a planned overhaul of the law that has served as South Korea's de facto basic statute for culture and the arts since 1972.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the debate at the Korea National Open University in Seoul will examine a full-revision bill introduced in the National Assembly on July 21 by Rep. Cho Kye-won, along with several partial-amendment bills also before lawmakers. Officials have argued that the current Cultural Arts Promotion Act, despite two wholesale rewrites in 1995 and 2007 and numerous smaller amendments, no longer reflects the demands of a rapidly changing arts sector.

The forum is to open at 2 p.m. with an explanation of the revision's main provisions by a ministry official, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Yang Hye-won, head of the culture research division at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute. Panellists are to cover five areas: the policy foundations for culture and arts, support for creative work, strengthening regional arts ecosystems, backing for the arts industry, and support for the convergence of art and technology including artificial intelligence.

The designated speakers are Kim Hong-pil, head of the ministry's arts policy division; Park Young-jung, a former chief executive of the Korea Arts and Culture Welfare Foundation; playwright Kook Min-sung; Kim Hyun-joo, culture and arts division head at the Chungbuk Cultural Foundation; Shin Da-hye, chief executive of Fielder Feel; and Min Se-hee, an artist who works with artificial intelligence. A free discussion with the audience is to follow, and the ministry will livestream the event on its official YouTube channel.

Kim said the law had played an important role in the arts but had fallen short in providing the legal footing for creation support and for support of artists, which he described as the core of cultural policy. "We will faithfully convey the various opinions from the arts field that emerge at this forum to the National Assembly's bill review process, and pursue the revision so that it raises the effectiveness of the Cultural Arts Promotion Act by reflecting the changing policy environment," he said.

The legislation under discussion also includes partial-amendment bills sponsored by Reps. Lee Jung-heon, Kim Seung-soo, Park Sung-hoon and Hwang Hee.