The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has proposed a budget of KRW 101 billion (approximately USD 75.8 million) for the visual arts sector in 2027. This figure includes infrastructure projects such as the Danginri Culture and Creation Hub.

Excluding facility-related projects, the budget for artistic creation, distribution, and public engagement amounts to KRW 42.6 billion (approximately USD 32.0 million), an increase of 3.4% from the previous year.
 
The government has identified expanded support for artists, the promotion of art criticism, the restructuring of international exhibition support, the development of creative spaces, and the cultivation of emerging artists as its principal policy priorities.

In particular, funding for artists at different career stages will increase from KRW 300 million (approximately USD 225,000) to KRW 2.6 billion (approximately USD 1.95 million), while KRW 4.1 billion (approximately USD 3.08 million) has been allocated to the Korean Art Global Scale-up Program, reflecting an expansion of support for artistic creation and international exchange.
 
Beyond the increased allocations, the central issue raised by the proposed budget is the effectiveness of South Korea’s existing visual arts support policies. It is necessary to examine how far public funding programs have improved working conditions for artists and what lasting contributions they have made to the development of Korean contemporary art and its institutional infrastructure.
 
Particular attention should be given to whether the design of funding programs, budget allocation, recipient selection, evaluation criteria, and post-project assessment are structured to support the fundamental development of artistic practice.

Expanded Funding for Artistic Practice and Art Criticism
 
One of the most notable aspects of the 2027 budget proposal is the substantial increase in direct support for artists.
 
Funding for the Visual Arts Creation Support Program will rise from KRW 1.2 billion (approximately USD 900,000) in 2026 to KRW 3.2 billion (approximately USD 2.40 million) in 2027. Within this program, support for artists at different career stages will increase from KRW 300 million (approximately USD 225,000) to KRW 2.6 billion (approximately USD 1.95 million), while funding for art criticism will grow from KRW 100 million (approximately USD 75,000) to KRW 400 million (approximately USD 300,000).
 
Expanding support according to artists’ career stages and increasing resources for art criticism are meaningful policy directions. Art criticism, in particular, plays an essential role in interpreting artworks and exhibitions, generating new aesthetic discourse, and connecting artistic practice to research and documentation.
 
However, the effectiveness of artist support depends on more than the amount of funding available. Selection criteria, the duration of support, and the extent to which programs accommodate the particular conditions of artistic practice are equally important.
 
A central issue is the emphasis on tangible deliverables within public funding programs. Many programs require exhibitions, artworks, or events to be completed within a fixed period, followed by the submission of documented results. Yet the exploration of new artistic languages, aesthetic experimentation, and sustained research do not necessarily produce immediately visible outcomes.
 
An even more fundamental concern is the tendency for artistic projects to be developed around the objectives and evaluation criteria of funding programs. Supporting artists as they pursue their own questions and creative methodologies is fundamentally different from requiring them to formulate projects that satisfy predetermined application requirements.
 
When funding structures encourage the latter approach, proposal-writing skills and project management capabilities may become decisive factors in selection, regardless of the depth or originality of the artistic inquiry itself.
 
Public funding should establish conditions that enable artists to pursue independent research and creative practice rather than encourage the production of outcomes tailored to funding requirements.
 
Likewise, support for art criticism should extend beyond the short-term production of articles and reviews to facilitate sustained research, scholarly and critical publishing, and the development of archives.
 
 
 
International Expansion Support Restructured as a Multi-Year Program
 
The government has allocated KRW 4.1 billion (approximately USD 3.08 million) to the “Korean Art Global Scale-up Program”, designed to support Korean artists’ international activities.
 
To address the limited preparation periods associated with previous single-year grants, the government plans to restructure international exhibition support into a multi-year program. Under the proposed model, Korean artists and international curators will prepare exhibitions during the first year, with the exhibitions presented at overseas venues in the following year.
 
Allowing sufficient time for exhibition planning represents a positive development. Collaboration with international art institutions requires extensive preparation, including artist research, artwork selection, curatorial development, transportation, installation, and publicity.
 
However, the effectiveness of international expansion programs should also be assessed beyond the exhibitions themselves. Their long-term value depends on whether they lead to sustained institutional partnerships, further research and criticism, publications, acquisitions, and subsequent exhibition opportunities.
 
An artist’s position within the international art world develops through the accumulation of such activities over time. Accordingly, the program should be evaluated primarily on its ability to establish lasting foundations for international artistic engagement rather than simply on the number of exhibitions presented.

Support for Exhibition Spaces and the Danginri Culture and Creation Hub
 
Funding for visual arts creative spaces will increase from KRW 3 billion (approximately USD 2.25 million) in 2026 to KRW 4.5 billion (approximately USD 3.38 million) in 2027. Approximately KRW 4.9 billion (USD 3.68 million) has also been allocated to domestic and international residency programs.
 
Independent exhibition spaces and smaller regional art institutions play important roles in introducing emerging artists and experimental practices while providing opportunities for artistic production and research. Stable support for these spaces can contribute to maintaining the diversity of South Korea's art ecosystem.
 
Meanwhile, the Danginri Culture and Creation Hub, currently under development in Seoul's Mapo District, is scheduled to open in 2027. The government has allocated KRW 52.9 billion (approximately USD 39.7 million) for the project, including its opening and operation, a substantial increase from KRW 9.6 billion (approximately USD 7.20 million) in the previous year.
 
The project involves converting former power plant facilities into a multidisciplinary cultural and arts complex. Its stated policy objectives include fostering experimental artistic creation and expanding the social value of art.
 
However, such expressions are broad objectives that could apply to almost any public cultural institution. Demonstrating the necessity of a new facility requires a concrete program strategy and operational framework capable of translating these objectives into practice.
 
Key questions include what forms of artistic activity the facility will support that existing public museums and creative spaces cannot adequately accommodate, how its professional management team will be organized, and how much of its annual operating budget will be allocated directly to artistic creation and research.
 
Given the range of national and municipal museums and public cultural facilities already operating in South Korea, proposals for new institutions should begin with an assessment of existing facilities, their utilization, and their operational performance.
 
It is also necessary to compare the potential benefits of constructing new facilities with those of strengthening programs and professional staffing at existing institutions.
 
The infrastructure required for the development of Korean contemporary art cannot be measured solely by the number or physical scale of cultural facilities. The professional quality and continuity of research, artistic production, criticism, publishing, and international exchange programs are equally important.
 
The performance of public cultural institutions should therefore be assessed not only through construction and opening milestones but also through the quality of their ongoing programs and their long-term artistic contributions.

MMCA's Emerging Artist Development Program
 
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), plans to introduce a new support program for emerging artists in 2027.
 
According to media reports, approximately KRW 6.9 billion (USD 5.18 million) has been allocated to a new program supporting emerging artists in the fine arts, while an additional KRW 1.2 billion (approximately USD 900,000) has been designated for initiatives supporting Korean artists' international expansion, including overseas touring exhibitions.
 
As South Korea's national institution for modern and contemporary art, MMCA is responsible not only for collecting and exhibiting artworks but also for researching, documenting, and presenting Korean art internationally.
 
Its emerging artist development program should therefore extend beyond short-term production grants and exhibition opportunities. It should be integrated with the museum's professional functions, including artist research, criticism, publishing, archiving, and collaboration with international art institutions.
 
In particular, the criteria for selecting participating artists, the program's distinction from existing museum initiatives, and its long-term artist development strategy require clarification.
 
 
 
Who Designs Cultural Policies, and What Standards Guide Their Evaluation?
 
A more fundamental issue raised by the 2027 budget proposal concerns how cultural policies are formulated and how funding programs are evaluated.
 
When the government introduces new initiatives or increases funding, it should explain the criteria used to assess the achievements and limitations of existing programs and how those findings have informed subsequent policy decisions.
 
Professional expertise and objectivity are equally important in the selection of funding recipients. Criteria such as artistic merit, originality, and future potential are necessary, but without clearly articulated standards, decisions may depend excessively on individual reviewers' subjective judgments.

Assessing artistic value inevitably involves different interpretations and professional perspectives. For this reason, reviewers' expertise and independence, evaluation criteria appropriate to each program's objectives, conflict-of-interest safeguards, and the accountability of selection decisions are essential.
 
The practice of evaluating public funding programs primarily through administrative indicators, such as the number of exhibitions, participant figures, or budget execution rates, also requires reconsideration.
 
Evaluation should examine whether artists can sustain their creative practices, whether new aesthetic discourse and research are being accumulated, whether independent art institutions are developing stronger operational foundations, and whether international partnerships are producing lasting results.
 
Although specific evaluation criteria must vary according to the nature of each program, they should ultimately relate to the meaningful development of Korean contemporary art.
 
 
 
The Art Community Must Strengthen Its Capacity for Policy Criticism and Evaluation
 
The responsibility for examining public arts policy extends beyond government agencies and administrative bodies.
 
Art critics, researchers, curators, and art institution professionals also have a role in analyzing and evaluating policy objectives, operational frameworks, budget priorities, and long-term outcomes.
 
When new cultural facilities or expanded funding programs are announced, critical examination should go beyond repeating their stated objectives and budget figures. It should address operational planning, professional expertise, connections with existing policies, and long-term financial commitments.
 
It is particularly important to establish an environment in which professionals involved as beneficiaries, reviewers, advisers, or administrators of public funding programs can evaluate those policies independently.
 
The prospects for improving public arts policy will be strengthened when the Korean art community consistently examines not only the scale of government support but also the structure and outcomes of the funding system itself.
 
 
 
Beyond Budget Increases: Reconsidering the Structure of Public Arts Support
 
The proposed 2027 visual arts budget signals several policy changes, including expanded support for artistic creation and criticism, multi-year international exhibition funding, increased support for creative spaces, and new emerging artist development initiatives.
 
For these measures to contribute meaningfully to Korean contemporary art, the government must undertake a comprehensive review of existing approaches to program design, funding mechanisms, selection criteria, and performance evaluation.
 
It should explain how previous support programs have improved working conditions for artists and strengthened research infrastructure, and how those outcomes have informed new policies and budget allocations.
 
It is also necessary to determine whether the expansion of public cultural facilities is accompanied by improvements in programming expertise and operational capacity, and whether artists, curators, researchers, and independent art institutions experience tangible benefits in their professional activities.
 
The value of the 2027 visual arts budget should be judged not by the size of the announced allocations but by the artistic achievements and sustainable infrastructure that the funding ultimately contributes to Korean contemporary art.
 
The future of Korean contemporary art requires more than the continued expansion of funding programs and public cultural facilities. It calls for a fundamental reassessment of public arts policy—one that places artistic autonomy and the long-term development of contemporary art at its center.
 
 
※ Currency note: All USD equivalents are approximate, calculated at KRW 1,333 per USD for consistency. They are provided for international readers and do not represent an official government exchange rate. The figures refer to the proposed 2027 budget, not finalized expenditure.

Jay Jongho Kim graduated from the Department of Art Theory at Hongik University and earned his master's degree in Art Planning from the same university. From 1996 to 2006, he worked as a curator at Gallery Seomi, planning director at CAIS Gallery, head of the curatorial research team at Art Center Nabi, director at Gallery Hyundai, and curator at Gana New York.

From 2008 to 2017, he served as the executive director of Doosan Gallery Seoul & New York and Doosan Residency New York, introducing Korean contemporary artists to the local scene in New York. After returning to Korea in 2017, he worked as an art consultant, conducting art education, collection consulting, and various art projects.

In 2021, he founded A Project Company and is currently running the platforms K-ARTNOW.COM and K-ARTIST.COM, which aim to promote Korean contemporary art on the global stage.