‘K-culture industry should promote sustainability’

The popularity of Korean cultural content is showing no signs of waning. Jungkook of K-pop titan BTS has exceeded a whopping 1 billion streams on the global platform Spotify this year alone, becoming the first K-pop solo artist to reach the milestone. Occult thriller “Exhuma,” which recently surpassed 10 million adimissions in Korea, has been exported to 133 countries and attracted some 1.8 million theatergoers in Indonesia in just 20 days.

Amid this cultural dominance, there’s a growing consensus among industry insiders that Korea has the opportunity to do more than just expand its cultural footprint. Considering the global popularity and clout of its content, Korea can now spearhead the new movement to pursue sustainability in the field of culture and play a key role in changing the world for the better.

“Korean culture is on par with that of other countries today, so if we help tackle climate change and support green growth, we may be able to further promote our country,” Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon said during the “Declaration of Sustainable K-content Forum” at the Content Korea Lab (CKL) in central Seoul, Tuesday.

“At the culture ministry, we do not use paper for our meetings to reduce its consumption.”

Hosted by the Korea Cultural Industry Forum — formerly World Culture Industry Forum (WCIF) established in 2002 — the event aims to bring together industry insiders and promote the development of culture and entertainment.

“Our content industry gave birth to hallyu [the Korean wave], which is now a global trend,” said Lee Jang-woo, a professor emeritus of business administration at Kyungpook National University. “Now, it is time for us to take a leading role in issues like the climate crisis, so that we can make our planet sustainable. We need to repay the love we received from around the world by maximizing the positive influence of our content.”