Choi Hwi-young pledges support for theater 'signature works,' venue costs

Theater division of Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee meets

Lifetime membership at National Academy of Arts flagged as reform target

Support for ASSITEJ World Congress in Suwon next July also discussed

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young speaks at the third meeting of the theater division of the Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee, held Tuesday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Seoul branch in Jongno-gu. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

"Theater policy has long focused on audience support rather than creative support. We intend to nurture signature works."

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young made the remarks Tuesday at the third meeting of the theater division of the Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee, held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Seoul branch in Jongno-gu.

Choi said the ministry plans to "concentrate next year's budget on a support project that helps private theater companies continuously develop and stage their signature works." The shift marks a move away from policies centered on drawing audiences and toward strengthening creative capacity.

According to the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS), theater ticket sales last year totaled roughly 78.13 billion won (about $50.5 million). Theater leads all performing arts genres in number of showings, but its ticket revenue lags well behind — higher than traditional Korean music and dance, but below classical music at 83.6 billion won and far short of musicals at 498.86 billion won.

Choi also expressed concern over the shrinking creative ecosystem in theater. "There used to be many cases where works produced in the regions came up to Seoul and became well known, but that rarely happens anymore," he said, adding that the ministry would focus support on developing new signature works centered on small theaters. The plan is to systematically cultivate each company's signature repertoire, raise production quality and win back audiences that have drifted away from theater.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young presides over the third meeting of the theater division of the Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee, held Tuesday at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Seoul branch in Jongno-gu. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

Choi also addressed the burden of venue rental costs. "The single biggest expense in putting on theater is renting a performance space," he said, noting that while the government is studying a plan to directly secure and lease spaces, that would take time. He said the ministry would move quickly in the meantime to expand rental subsidy programs. Officials are also reviewing ways to give private theater companies broader access to public venues such as the Arko Arts Theater and Daehangno Arts Theater.

Participants offered a range of recommendations. Actor Lee Ki-young said producing signature works requires strong playwrights, and suggested that open competitions could help emerging writers leave lasting works. Bang Ji-young, chair of the Korean Center of ASSITEJ, welcomed the initiative, saying it would give mid-tier theater companies — the backbone of the industry — renewed impetus to be active. Actor Kim Su-ro proposed establishing a "Korean Theater House" at the Edinburgh Festival as a vehicle for overseas expansion. Kim Do-il, a visiting professor at Dongguk University's Graduate School of Culture and Arts, called for a policy shift toward building a market ecosystem in which creation, venues and audiences reinforce one another.

Issues beyond theater also came up. Lim Dae-il, chair of the Korean Theater Actors Association, asked the ministry to conduct a comprehensive review of culture and arts campaign pledges made by candidates in the local elections.

Choi said the ministry had deliberately waited until after the elections to begin the review to avoid any appearance of impropriety, and that it was collecting pledges from unsuccessful candidates as well as winners. On reforming the National Academy of Arts, which currently operates on a lifetime membership basis, Choi said the issue had been placed on the government's list of "normalization of abnormalities" reform tasks — a remark that suggested formal discussions on switching to term-based membership could be forthcoming.

The meeting also explored ways to support the successful staging of the ASSITEJ (International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) World Congress and International Performing Arts Festival, scheduled for next July in and around Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to coordinate preparations with the Korean Center of ASSITEJ, the city of Suwon and other relevant organizations.

"We will actively reflect the voices from the field so that Korea's original theater works continue to be performed and theater becomes a performing arts sector that drives K-culture," Choi said.

shee@heraldcorp.com