Funding conditions are tight across most of the arts, but musicals — which carry especially heavy production costs — urgently need government support spanning several years. That is why industry figures say annual budget cycles hinder the sustained growth of the musical business. The issue took center stage at a meeting of the musical subcommittee of the Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee on the 14th.
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young said the government would "support flagship Korean original musicals so they can run over the medium to long term rather than ending as one-off productions," speaking at the subcommittee's third meeting, held at the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno District, Seoul, where he outlined next year's plans for the performing arts and musical sectors.
To that end, 51.7 billion won has been allocated next year for performing arts creation and production support, covering programs such as the Performing Arts Creation Incubator and medium- to long-term creative support — a 32.2% increase from this year.
"Original musicals often disappear after a single run," Choi said. "We have newly allocated 3.5 billion won next year for a project that provides up to four years of support when a venue and a production company apply jointly, to raise the quality of the work."
Advisory members welcomed the measures but called for multiyear support to become the default. Koh Hee-kyung, dean of the Graduate School of Performing Arts at Hongik University, said multiyear support was essential for a production to stabilize and asked the ministry to reflect the particular nature of the arts. Choi responded that expanding multiyear funding would not be easy because the government budget itself operates on a one-year cycle, but said he would work to increase it gradually. He also asked the industry to deliver results that would justify securing the budget.
The total performing arts budget for next year is 272.1 billion won, up 70.8% from this year. For musicals alone, however, next year's budget stands at 24.7 billion won, a rise of just 1.2%.
Even so, the mood at the meeting was not sour, given the increase in budgets shared across performing arts genres and additional gains such as the large-scale expansion of the Youth Culture Pass. Musical-related funding had already been raised sharply this year, to 24.4 billion won from 3.1 billion won last year.
"To give K-musicals a competitive edge on the world stage, we will build a support system that connects the entire process from creation through distribution to overseas expansion, and we will cultivate intellectual property," Choi said. "We will design the details together with the musical community."
Participants also said the government should overhaul the industry's standard contracts to match conditions in a musical market that is growing and shifting rapidly. Lee Sung-hoon, chief executive of Shownote, said the standard contract for the musical industry, a matter set by ministerial notice, had barely been revised since it was first drawn up in 2019 and no longer kept pace with the market.
The ministry said it was currently discussing the contract with the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute and was in the final stages of review, adding that it would announce the results after gathering input from those involved.