South Korea is investing 730 billion won-roughly $565 million-in its content industry, the largest such fund ever created, with ambitions to propel “K-culture” to a 300 trillion won ($232 billion) valuation. But despite the massive influx of capital, a key request from the gaming sector-a dedicated investment fund-was not included in the plan.
The Ministry of Culture, sports and Tourism, working with Korea Venture Investment, announced on January 23rd that the frist investments from the fund will begin in 2026. the total 730 billion won represents a 22% increase over the previous year’s investment.
Culture Fund Expansion: A 25% Boost
The “Culture Account,” encompassing intellectual property (IP), export, and cultural technology (CT) funds, is slated to receive 650 billion won, a 25% increase year-over-year. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s own investment will rise from 300 billion won last year to 390 billion won.
Officials stated that the ministry intends to bolster content creators’ ability to secure IP and invigorate the IP market through the “Intellectual Property Fund” and “export Fund,” each targeting 200 billion won in investment. A newly established “Culture Technology Fund” (100 billion won) will focus on developing and implementing new technologies in performance, video, and gaming, while the “Content New Growth Fund” (75 billion won) will nurture emerging fields like webtoons and early-stage companies.
Gaming Industry’s Request Falls Short
The gaming industry had previously lobbied for a separate “game account” dedicated to investing in small and medium-sized game companies, raising the issue during recent National Assembly debates. Though, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is currently leaning against the idea, citing concerns about the profitability of game funds and the possibility of supporting game companies through existing cultural accounts. “I agree that more domestic capital should flow into games,but if a loss occurs through a dedicated account,the very existence of the account could be jeopardized,” saeid Lim Seong-hwan,director of cultural industry policy at the Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism,during a National Assembly debate.
Meanwhile, the ministry is increasing funding for the film industry, which is currently facing a downturn. The ‘film account’ fund creation will increase from 39.8 billion won to 49 billion won, with the government’s investment ratio rising from 50% to 60%.The formation of sub-funds totaling 81.8 billion won across three areas is planned, and the ‘Korean Film Main Investment Fund’-supporting small and medium-sized production companies-will see a substantial increase from 39.6 billion won to 56.7 billion won. The ministry of Culture, Sports and tourism aims to foster genre diversity through ‘mid- to low-budget Korean film fund’ and ‘animation specialty fund.’
To encourage greater private sector participation (40%) in these policy funds, the ministry will expand incentives, increasing the preferential loss provision from 15% to 20% and raising the excess profit transfer and call option ratio from 30% to 40%. This is intended to create a positive cycle of private capital flowing into and being invested in the content policy fund.
Policy Director Lim Seong-hwan stated, “the 2026 Content Policy Fund will actively support the stable growth of content companies and solidify the global competitiveness of ‘K-content’ by encompassing new growth areas and recovery markets.”
