Culture Minister nominee eyes 'W300tr K-culture market'
Chae Hwi-young, who would be the first private sector expert to lead the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism if appointed, said Tuesday that he hopes to grow the market for Korean culture to 300 trillion won ($215.4 billion).
The 61-year-old tech platform expert highlighted the Korean content industry's growing economic impact, citing K-pop, K-dramas, games, webtoons and publishing. Together, these markets generated 154 trillion won in revenue and $13.3 billion in exports in 2023, growing at an annual rate of 5-6 percent. 'These are now core national industries,' he said during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday morning.
'While I take great pride in the accomplishments of Korean culture, I also believe we must reflect deeply on whether we're truly maximizing this unprecedented opportunity. We need to consider how to further strengthen the foundation of our cultural power. Being nominated at such a critical juncture fills me with a deep sense of responsibility,' he said.
As for how he plans to achieve these goals, Chae emphasized the role of artificial intelligence, drawing on his personal experience navigating the profound shift from the analog 20th century to the AI-driven era of today.
'Now, generative AI is becoming a part of daily life, signaling yet another transformation. We must approach every cultural field -- arts, sports and tourism included -- with a new perspective fit for this evolving era,' he said.
'We will establish an innovation strategy for AI content creation, production and distribution and support the development of AI training datasets that incorporate Korean history and culture," he added.
After working as a journalist at Yonhap News Agency and YTN, he joined Yahoo Korea. In 2002, he became CEO of NHN, leading the growth of the search portal Naver. In 2016, he founded Triple, a hyper-personalized travel platform. After Triple's merger with Interpark in 2022, he served as CEO, and in late 2024, led the launch of Nol Universe through a merger with Yanolja Platform.
In the tourism sector, Chae pledged to draw 30 million international visitors to Korea by creating compelling content and modernizing the industry. As part of that effort, he emphasized improving convenience throughout the travel experience -- from arrival to departure -- while pushing innovation in travel services.
'We will build an innovative tourism ecosystem by supporting the digital and AI transformation of tourism businesses and streamlining outdated regulations,' he said.
In addition to these pledges, Chae outlined a broader cultural vision that includes strengthening the foundation of Korea's cultural and artistic infrastructure, making access to culture, sports and travel a basic right in everyday life and enhancing investment in professional sports to reflect Korea's global standing.
gypark@heraldcorp.com
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