Kim Yun-ji, director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, promotes conversion into an agency that performs the role of a ‘Korean-style production committee’

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Soon-hyeon = Kim Yun-ji, director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, announced that he will turn the agency into an organization that acts as a so-called Korean-style 'production committee' that encompasses content discovery, production, distribution, and support.

At a press conference commemorating the 100th day of his inauguration held at the CKL Corporate Support Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 17th, Director Kim unveiled the Korea Creative Content Agency's "four new strategies" and explained specific directions for implementation.

The new strategy that Director Kim most emphasized is the promotion of a Korean-style ‘production committee.’ The production committee introduced in Japan is a method in which multiple investors jointly invest to reduce investment risk when producing a movie or animation, and profits or losses are distributed according to the investment ratio.

Director Kim's plan is to use the Japanese production committee as a motif, but to act as a Korean-style production committee tailored to the realities of the domestic content industry.

He explained, “Japan’s production committee had the side effect of hindering the overseas expansion of the content as the rights relationship was set too tightly,” adding, “The Promotion Agency plans to promote the committee by eliminating such negative elements and bringing only positive elements.”

Specifically, the plan is for the Promotion Agency to act as a 'secretary' connecting content creators, production companies, investors, platforms, distributors, and manufacturing companies.

Director Kim said, “The Promotion Agency selects verified content intellectual property rights (IP) and plans to support planning, production, distribution commercialization, and support for overseas expansion in a one-stop package.” He added, “We connect one IP with another genre, and if a contractual relationship or rights issue arises in the process, the Promotion Agency reviews it together and creates a solution.”

In order to successfully fulfill the role of the production committee, we plan to focus on supporting the distribution of competitive content IP.

Director Kim said, "Even if we have secured a competitive IP, it is meaningless if we cannot utilize it and make a profit. To this end, we plan to expand information technology (IT) business to revitalize distribution and improve profits compared to production costs."

The Promotion Agency's screening will also be significantly improved to ensure that competitive content receives support on time. We plan to strengthen the expertise of the support project evaluation committee and establish a fair evaluation system.

Director Kim said, “Currently, we receive and manage evaluation committee applications on a three-year cycle, but we plan to reduce this to a one-year period to allow for the participation of more diverse experts,” and added, “Above all, our goal is to create a pool of evaluation committee members with enhanced expertise and fairness.”

We also plan to promote a plan to improve the Korea Development Institute's content support policy, which is currently being implemented as a government-funded project, into field-centered customized support. To this end, we are first exploring ways to convert the Promotion Agency into a donation institution.

This is a measure taken in response to criticism that the annual national treasury support project is carried out in accordance with government budget procedures and does not correspond to the reality of the content industry, where production and distribution take several years. By converting the Promotion Agency into a grant organization and securing a support budget in advance, it is possible to establish a flexible support policy tailored to the on-site circumstances.

Director Kim said, "If the Promotion Agency becomes a contribution organization, we will be able to operate support policies more quickly and flexibly. This is an issue that requires consultation with the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. During my term, I will definitely resolve this issue and establish an industry-friendly support policy."

The policy to support domestic content entering overseas markets will also be dramatically improved. We plan to support content so that it can be exported in the form of a so-called 'package' by linking it with related industries such as food, cosmetics, and fashion.

Director Kim said, “Support for overseas expansion of content has so far been focused on participation in markets by genre and overseas distribution of completed content,” and added, “We will make the Promotion Agency a leap forward into a general organization for the K-culture industry that shares not only content but also various lifestyle industries.”

To this end, we plan to regularize market events encompassing the Korean Wave industry, including content, and prepare support measures to ensure that content can lead to consumption of domestic companies' products.

Director Kim said, "We are considering making the 'K-Expo', a joint export market event held by related ministries, an annual regular event in strategic locations such as North America, Europe, and Asia, where K-culture has a large impact," and added, "We will also match and expose our company's products and brands through Korean Wave content in various ways, such as indirect advertising (PPL), to help drive overseas consumption and actual export contracts."

In addition, Director Kim announced that he would expand the genres eligible for low-interest loan support and reorganize the Promotion Agency's organization in line with policy changes in the content industry.