The South Korean government will supply funding to help arts businesses grow through new loan and guarantee programs.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Management Support Center said Friday they will launch loans and guarantees totaling 43.75 billion won to strengthen the foundation for growth in the arts industry.
The loan program will be carried out with NH NongHyup Bank and Hana Bank, while the guarantee program will be run with the Korea Technology Finance Corp. Applications will be accepted starting March 16 for loans and April 1 for guarantees.
The ministry said it created a new arts-industry guarantee program to cover all fields of the arts that had been excluded from existing cultural-industry guarantees.
Loans totaling 20 billion won will be offered to private arts facilities such as theaters and art museums, as well as arts service businesses including agencies and production companies. Funding will cover two categories: facility financing, including renovations, new construction and equipment purchases and installation; and working capital, including payroll, marketing, materials and rent.
Loan rates will be based on the floating rate for the Public Fund Management Fund loan account, set at 2.96% for the first quarter of 2026. Large and mid-sized companies will pay an additional 0.04 percentage points, while small and other companies will receive a 0.21 percentage-point discount. Youth-led companies headed by people age 39 or younger will be offered a fixed 2.5% rate. Loan limits range from 500 million won to 3 billion won, and repayment terms from five to 10 years depending on the borrower and purpose. Banks will decide approvals and amounts through their own reviews, and recipients must use the funds within this year.
Applicants seeking loans should first consult nationwide branches of NH NongHyup Bank or Hana Bank about collateral, then apply for a recommendation from the Arts Management Support Center. Recommendation applications will be accepted through the National Culture and Arts Support System from March 16 to April 7. If funds remain after the first round, the ministry said it plans a second call for applications in the first half of 2026.
The guarantee program will cover literature, fine arts, music (excluding pop music), dance, theater, traditional Korean music, photography, architecture and musicals. Guarantees totaling 23.75 billion won will be provided in two tracks: an “arts business” track that supports working capital based on an assessment of a company’s growth potential, and an “arts project” track that supports planning and production costs for performances and exhibitions.
The guarantee limit is up to 1 billion won per company. The Arts Management Support Center will evaluate applicants and recommend them, after which the Korea Technology Finance Corp. will review the case and issue a guarantee certificate. Businesses can use the certificate to obtain loans from commercial banks.
Guarantee applications will be submitted through the National Culture and Arts Support System. Applications will be accepted regularly from the first to the 10th of each month starting in April, and applicants will be notified of recommendations at the end of each month. More details will be posted in the call for applications on the Arts Management Support Center website on March 16 for loans and April 1 for guarantees.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.