Jo Hyun-rae, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency, speaks during a conference at Coex in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, Wednesday. (KOCCA)

The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) plans to provide active assistance against a highly competitive global content market industry in 2023, with an increased budget plan of 623.8 billion won ($485.1 million) for next year.

Although yet to be confirmed by the government, the expected budget is a 14 percent increase from 2022. KOCCA President Jo Hyun-rae announced that the budget will not only be used in strengthening the competitiveness of Korean content in the global intellectual property industry, but will also promote startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Korean content has made a significant development, but it faces many hurdles on the global stage and requires various strategies to respond to the fast-changing environment of content industry. Our agency narrowed down the major challenges and created strategies to support Korean creative contents,” Jo said at the 2023 KOCCA Conference held at Coex in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul.

Jo shared plans to promote Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, and provide a better environment for workers in related industries.

The media content division saw its budget rise by 183 percent, the biggest increase among 15 divisions in the agency. While Korean print comics called “manhwa,” animated characters and global business among other sectors saw on-year rises in their budgets, music and fashion business decreased 34.7 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

“Ranging from research, development to production and distribution, the media content and animation division seeks to support the local creators from start to finish. The funding for media content in broadcast and local streaming services will be increased to 3 billion won,” Kim Sang-hyun, general director of KOCCA’s media content and animation division, said at the conference Wednesday.

The agency will assist small and medium-sized production companies with intellectual property issues, supporting creators to promote popular projects in the global content markets, including Hong Kong International Film & TV Market, The Spring International Television Market, International Production & Entertainment Content Market and Singapore Media Festival.

The agency will also continue its funding for the animation business and production studios.

“Although the outlook for 2023 seems tough, I believe the Korean content industry will grow and develop. I hope our strategies for next year provide appropriate support for the various sectors of the content industry,” Jo said.