HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is a
central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
agency responsible for the areas of tourism, culture, art, religion, and sports. It has two vice ministers, three assistant ministers, one commission, and over 60 divisions. The first Minister of Culture was novelist
Lee O-young Lee O-young (15 January 1934 – 26 February 2022) was a South Korean critic and novelist."이어령" biogr ...
. Subsidiary entities such as the National Museum, the National Theater, and the National Library are under the Ministry. The headquarters are located in the Sejong Government Complex in Sejong City. The headquarters were previously in
Jongno District Bosingak bell pavilion Jongno District () is a district () in central Seoul, South Korea. It takes its name from a major local street, Jongno, which means "Bell Road". Characteristics Jongno District has been the center of the city for 600 ye ...
,
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
.


Goals

The main goals of the MCST are: *To educate Korean people to be cultured and creative citizens *To create a society in which leisure and work are in harmony *To create a dynamic nation in which various local cultures are represented *To enhance public awareness of the national agenda (e.g. green growth) through public relations activities *To improve quality of life for citizens by supporting cultural events and activities, sports, tourism, and religious activities


History

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism was originally a sub-organization of the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
created in 1948. Later, the Ministry of Transportation set up a tourism department. The Ministry of Information was set up in 1961 for administration of art and cultural affairs. The Ministry of Culture and Information became the Ministry of Culture in 1990. In 1993, the Ministry of Culture was integrated with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to become the Ministry of Culture and Sports. In 1998, as part of government reorganization efforts, the Ministry of Culture and Sports was replaced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It was created to invest in and support the entertainment industry, as Korea needed new areas of growth in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s. President Kim Dae Jung put forth industrial policies supporting entertainment with the same regard as traditional industrial sectors such as manufacturing. Investments were made in both infrastructure and technology to support K-Pop, including concert halls and visual effects technology. In addition, government regulation of karaoke bars favored K-Pop. Since then, there has been a focus on developing soft power; the Ministry believes that by promoting Korean culture abroad, exports of other goods and services will also increase. As part of those efforts to move beyond developing a domestic industry and toward international success, the Ministry established an advisory committee and announced an international training school. Direct financial support of artists increased. In 2013, the Ministry allocated 319 billion won (US$280 million) for direct support of Hallyu (Korean Wave). Cultural exports increased at an annual rate of 10 percent as a result of these efforts.


Ministers

* 29 February 2008 - 26 January 2011
Yu In-chon Yu In-chon (born March 20, 1951) is a South Korean actor and a former Minister of Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Yu In-chon was born in the city of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, South Korea in 1951. He graduated with the bachelor degree in the ...
(유인촌) * 27 January 2011 - 19 September 2011
Choung Byoung-gug Choung Byoung-gug (born 10 February 1958) is a South Korean politician and the former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He was the leader of the centre-right Bareunmirae Party, and Chairman of the Special Committee on the 4th Industrial ...
(정병국) * 2 September 2011 - 10 March 2013 Choe Kwang-shik (최광식) * 11 March 2013 - 16 July 2014 Yoo Jin-ryong * August 21, 2014 – September 4, 2016 Kim Jong-deok * 5 September 2016 – 21 January 2017
Cho Yoon-sun Cho Yoon-sun (born 22 July 1965) is a South Korean lawyer, writer and politician. She formerly served as the South Korean Minister of Gender Equality and Family and later as its Minister of Culture, however she was later jailed after being conv ...
* 10 June 2017– 3 April 2019
Do Jong-hwan Do Jong-hwan (도종환) (born 27 September 1955) is a Korean poet and politician. He is a member of the South Korean National Assembly and former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He was also the interim president of the Democratic P ...
*3 April 2019 - 10 February 2021
Park Yang-woo Park Yang-woo (; born 20 November 1958) is a South Korean professor at Chung-Ang University's Graduate School of Art previously served as President Moon Jae-in's second Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism from 2019 to 2021. He was previous ...
*11 February 2021 - present
Hwang Hee Hwang Hee (born Kim Ji-soo; October 18, 1988) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in the television series ''Tomorrow, with You'' (2017), ''Arthdal Chronicles ''Arthdal Chronicles'' () is a 2019 South Korean television serie ...


Korean Culture and Information Service

The
Korean Culture and Information Service The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) is an affiliated organization of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the South Korean government and runs 32 Korean cultural centers in 27 countries. The goal of the organization is to ...
is a department of the MCST that aims to bring Korean culture closer to the rest of the world while improving the national image of Korea. It is also responsible for setting up more than 20 Korean Cultural Centers around the world.


Criticisms

Despite the large amounts of money the government provides for Hallyu, the K-Pop industry, the most internationally well-known part of Hallyu has criticized the Ministry's efforts. Many industries such as fashion and food have lobbied the government for inclusion in the Hallyu budget, and politicians and the bureaucracy also have varying interests in how the budget is distributed. Despite popular internet speculation on the Korean government's financial support for the promotion of K-Pop, there are no figures to substantiate the speculation. In 2013, of the $230 million allocated for Hallyu, there are itemized contributions to the promotion of the Korean language, culture and food but no known figures for allocations directly to K-Pop. Independent of financial support in recent years the Ministry has been successful in reversing decades-long governmental policy of suppressing and jailing pop and gayo artists in favor of supporting K-Pop as a driver of Hallyu overseas.


See also

*
Korean Film Council The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) () is a state-supported, self-administered organization under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) of the Republic of Korea. History KOFIC was launched in 1973 as the Korean Motion Picture Promotion ...
*
Korea Copyright Commission The Korea Copyright Commission (KCC) Korean agency dedicated to copyright-related affairs representing the government of South Korea The Government of South Korea is the union government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution ...


Notes and references


External links


South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism official websiteSouth Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism official website
{{authority control Government ministries of South Korea S S S