Culture awaits greater interest from new leader
President Moon Jae-in said he will take more interest in art and culture, saying he will attend cultural events at least once a month.
“If a president shows interest in culture, Korean art and culture would develop further,” Moon said at a conference on hallyu, or the Korean wave, at COEX Artium in southern Seoul on May 4. “Previous presidents mostly attended plays or traditional performances and went to the movies when a film was a big hit. I will try to take part in popular culture events such as K-pop concerts as well.”
Moon’s framework on cultural policy is to “support artists without interference,” conscious of the blacklist created by the former Park Geun-hye administration which censored artists critical of the government.
Moon pledged independence of cultural institutions and financial resources for promoting culture and art. He also suggested introducing a standard contract to prevent unfair contracts and making cultural expenses tax deductible to promote the enjoyment of culture.
Moon said culture and art should be considered an industry in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “Art and culture play growing roles in this era, but they have been neglected as if they were private territory,” He said.
In the film industry, distributors control the market, and in Korea, large production companies own the distribution channels, which allows them to dominate the industry. “Externally, the Korean movie industry sees growth, but severe polarization exists inside it,” Moon said.
He emphasized the importance of standard contracts to ensure transparent employment relationships between major production companies and small companies or individuals.
“A-list stars earn megabucks, while others suffer in poverty, such as screenwriter Choi Go-eun who died of hunger a few years ago. We began the Artists Welfare Act to complement the unstable employment status of the artists, but it still has a long way to go.”
Moon suggested establishing unemployment benefits for artists, whose concept of employment is different from ordinary workers who receive regular paychecks. “Artists don’t receive wages periodically and are excluded from unemployment benefits. The unemployment insurance system should protect artists when they are out of work,” Moon said.