(Sept 5): For all the global cache of BTS, Squid Game and Blackpink, South Korea doesn’t have an entertainment mecca that can rival the fame of Hollywood. The country’s government wants to change that. 

The government aims to develop a new area dedicated to making movies, television programmes, music and other art by 2035. It will span 3.3 square kilometres and feature specialised schools for entertainment and content production facilities. It will also house full-scale replicas of Joseon dynasty palaces, designed to support film and drama production and attract tourists. 

“Our plan is to create a giant entertainment city,” South Korea’s Culture Minister Yu In-Chon said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The government can draw a blueprint and offer infrastructure. We think companies will follow us with investments in telecommunications and the internet, along with financial services.”

South Korean content ranging from music to drama to the gaming industry brought in about 151 trillion won (US$114 billion or RM489.28 billion) last year. The new site, which has yet to be chosen or named, is also meant to attract overseas visitors, particularly from China and Japan. 

The government has pledged to establish a 100 billion won fund with foreign venture capitalists under next year’s budget plan to invest in South Korean content. It will also host a large-scale Hallyu festival next summer, and support the export of South Korean cultural products.

South Korea is in talks with China and Japan to make it easier to attract overseas visitors to the country in a bid to bring in about 30 million foreign tourists annually in the next few years. 

Asia’s fourth-largest economy attracted about 10 million tourists in the first eight months this year, a significant increase from last year. Still, the numbers are lower than the pre-pandemic levels due to a slowdown in Chinese tourists. South Korea has eased visa requirements for travellers from the US, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong from April last year to Dec 31 this year, while Chinese visitors still need to apply for tourist visas.

“One of the biggest problems we have in tourism is the visa issue,” Yu said. “We will see a lot more visitors if we are able to allow no-visa tours in this region.”  

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee