The ministry aims to boost cultural industries, tourism, and tech exchange during APEC, with Minister Choi Hwi-yeong attending; BTS and Stray Kids cited as signs of growing global demand for Korean culture.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will meet with APEC member countries during the summit to pursue closer cooperation in three areas—strengthening competitiveness of the cultural industry, activating tourism, and exchanging new technologies—in order to achieve the government’s target of a “K-Culture 300 trillion won.”

Minister Choi Hwi-yeong is slated to attend the APEC summit from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. The cultural arts sector expects him to share concrete collaboration plans with member countries on promoting the cultural industry and activating the tourism market, and discussions with nations that excel in AI and the metaverse and other new technologies are anticipated.

The emphasis is on industrializing culture. Historically, summits focused on trade, investment, and energy, but the importance of culture has grown, making it necessary to discuss strengthening cultural industries and exchanges. Ahead of the summit, the ministry invited member countries to Gyeongju for a “Cultural Industry High-Level Dialogue,” treating culture industry as an independent agenda.

Culture officials expect that large-scale cooperation agreements between Korea and major countries will emerge after the summit. The rapid international momentum is underscored by the success of K-pop idols like BTS and Stray Kids, and by content rooted in Korean culture finding wider appeal abroad.

Tourism activation is also a key task. To reach the goal of 30 million foreign visitors, demand must be spread beyond Seoul and the metropolitan area. The Korea Tourism Organization notes that last year about 80% of total tourism demand was concentrated in Seoul and the 수도권.

During the APEC week in Gyeongju, regional tourism demand is rising, with the number of visitors to the city around 20,000. As of September this year, foreign visitors to Korea grew 16% year-on-year, and foreign tourism expenditure increased by 21.6%.