The international art market reached $64.6 billion in total sales of art and antiques in 2013, close to its highest ever recorded total, and advanced 8 percent year-on-year according to the Art Market Report 2014 published by the European Fine Art Foundation.

But the Korean fine art market reached just 440.5 billion won ($432 million) in total sales in 2012, according to the Survey on the Art Market 2012 published by the Korea Arts Management Service. The figure represents only 0.63 percent of the international art market. The National Tax Service estimates the actual size of the art market at about 1 trillion won, including unreported deals. This shows that there is quite a lot of room for growth.

The fine art market in Korea is one of its most unglobalized markets. Although the survey found that there are 397 galleries in Korea, there are no global galleries such as Gagosian Gallery or Whitecube Gallery, which have branch galleries in Hong Kong and Beijing. The total sales revenue of the galleries was 282.3 billion won and the average sales revenue of each gallery was 700 million won. About 90 percent of the galleries are operated as individual businesses and only 9.3 percent of the galleries are operated by corporate bodies. This means that large global galleries have a good opportunity in Korea because the gallery industry has not been developed yet.

There are also 13 auction houses in Korea. The total sales amount of the auction houses was 85.3 billion won in 2012. The number of auction houses and their revenue are still quite low compared with other Asian and global markets.

In the area of art fairs, 35 are held every year in Korea. This shows that there is high demand for art fairs. But there is no top-tier international art fair like Art Basel or the Amory Show. Even Korea International Art Fair, the biggest art fair in Korea, has very low participation by foreign galleries and is considered a local art fair when compared with Art Basel Hong Kong or Art Stage Singapore. So, if any renowned international art fair like Frieze or the Amory Show came to Korea, it would be very successful.

On the other hand, Korean artists and galleries are very eager to go global. Korean artists are very talented. But they have few chances to be exposed to the international art market because there are no international galleries in Korea. Korean galleries are not able to introduce young Korean artists to the global art market because the galleries do not have branches abroad.

Therefore the opportunity for foreign art business in Korea is quite huge considering the underdeveloped level of the Korean fine art market. Currently, the position of the Korean government in regard to foreign art business is changing. The government’s policy is to welcome foreigners into the Korean art market. This change will be very helpful for Korean art to become globalized and be upgraded. 

By Kim Hyung-gul

Kim Hyung-gul is the principal of Goodwill Advisory Inc. and a former secretary general of the Galleries Association of Korea. He can be reached at hkim62@gmail.com. ― Ed.