The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on the 23rd it will accept applications from March 3 through March 31 for a pilot program, “K-Art Youth Creator Support,” aimed at young artists in foundational arts.
The program will provide annual creation grants of 9 million won to 3,000 creators in foundational arts (age 39 or younger; born on or after Jan. 1, 1986). It will select 1,500 recipients from the Seoul metropolitan area and 1,500 from outside the capital region.
The ministry said the grants are intended to help young creators whose low and unstable income makes it difficult to focus on their work. Unless there are special circumstances, those selected this year are expected to receive support again the following year.
Eligible fields include literature, visual arts, performing arts (theater, musical theater, dance, classical and traditional arts), multidisciplinary arts, and convergence and hybrid arts. Popular arts such as pop music and film are excluded.
Applicants can find details in notices posted on the Arts Council Korea website and the websites of 17 provincial and metropolitan cultural foundations. Applications must be submitted through the Arts Council’s National Culture and Arts Support System. Performers may also apply if they have creation credits and submit a creation plan.
Regional cultural foundations will first review applicants’ track records and the suitability of their plans. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute will then allocate slots by region and field and select the final 3,000 recipients. Results will be posted on the websites of the 17 regional cultural foundations.
Recipients must carry out their projects based on their submitted plans and file an interim report and a final report that includes the completed work. Grants will be paid in two installments — 4 million won in the first half of the year and 5 million won in the second half. Failure to submit an interim or final report will limit further payments.
The pilot program will run from 2026 to 2027. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute will lead an evidence-based performance evaluation (a joint study under the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences) to objectively assess the program’s effects. The evaluation will examine changes in time spent on creative work, increases in creative activity, shifts in income and spending, and how the grants affect young artists’ employment and income.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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