A massive fund of 1.5 trillion won (approximately $1.5 billion) will be established to enhance the global competitiveness of K-Culture.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Financial Services Commission announced on July 22 that they have opened a recruitment notice for the selection of a management company for the 'K-Culture Value-Up Fund.'
This fund is a National Growth Fund that will invest in the entire K-Culture industry, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) content and technology. It aims to raise over 700 billion won in private funds, based on a government contribution of 500 billion won and an additional 300 billion won from the Industrial Bank and the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund, bringing the total to 1.5 trillion won.
Previously, the Ministry of Culture has operated various funds, including the Cultural Account of the Fund of Funds, the Film Account, and the K-Content and Media Strategic Fund. However, most of these funds were around 500 billion won, limiting investments in large-scale content that requires significant production costs. This time, the total fund size has been expanded to 1.5 trillion won, which is expected to enable large-scale investments.
The fund will be divided into two areas: AI and intellectual property (IP) and content innovation. The AI and IP sector will manage a fund of 1 trillion won, investing in companies that utilize AI technology to plan and produce content or operate K-Culture industries using content IP from games, videos, and music.
In the content innovation sector, a fund of 500 billion won will invest in companies engaged in economic activities related to content production and distribution. Both funds will set the investment ratio for content in the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund at a level more than double the contribution ratio, at 15-25%, to strengthen support for the content industry.
This investment initiative marks the first case of the National Growth Fund expanding its scale in collaboration with government policy funds. The Ministry of Culture and the Financial Services Commission plan to leverage this collaboration to maximize the ripple effects of 'K-Content' and support K-Culture in becoming a leading industry in the global market.
Proposals for fund management will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 12, with the final management company to be selected and announced in September. Korea Growth Investment Corporation, the operator of the Fund of Funds, will hold an investment briefing soon. Detailed schedules can be found on the Korea Growth Investment Corporation's website.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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