Games & Contents Culture ministry actively involved in moves to raise level of nation's game industry Korea's rapidly expanding game industry is receiving solid backing from the government, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) actively supporting the advance of Koreanmade games into overseas markets. To this end, the ministry will dispatch new market exploration teams and hold a series of export consultation meetings for domestic game makers. By making the best use of overseas networks, MCT is also actively dealing with international issues concerning the game industry, which has been diversified and deepened further. As part of its project to exchange manpower in the cultural industry in Southeast Asia, it will invite relevant people from the academic and business circles in the region to Korea this year and educate them in the game industry. Noting that the two factors - industry and culture - coexist in game, Wi Ok-hwan, director general of the Cultural Industry Bureau of MCT, pointed out that game is a cultural industry where technology and contents are closely linked with each other. At present, Korea's game industry ranks 8th in the world. In particular, Korea secures the No.1 position in the online game field in terms of global market share. In the mobile game field, Korea is also located in the upper bracket. The nation's game industry has enjoyed a high growth rate of 10-15 percent every year in the domestic market. It also posted a high growth in exports. Game exports increased by about 100 percent in 2004 and are estimated to have posted a 25% rise in 2005 to reach $500 million. In particular, Korean-made games account for over half of the 10 most popular games in China. Korean-made games are also actively advancing into Japan, Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe. As many countries in the world seek a high-level informatization society through advanced network systems, the domestic online game sector is expected to win new opportunities to explore untapped overseas markets and activate the game industry, Wi predicted. Korean games are gaining high popularity in foreign countries. However, it has a problem to link Korean games with "hallyu (the Korean wave)" directly. The success in the game industry is possible only when satisfying users' needs and preferences fully. Accordingly, the domestic game industry should develop contents that users in foreign countries can easily relate to and accept in order to succeed. Considering that game is one of many fields in culture, "game hallyu" should contribute to delivering Korean culture to overseas markets and harmonizing it with foreign cultures through games from a long-term viewpoint, he said. In a nutshell, exports of Korean-made games should be expanded through development of excellent game contents, construction of a sound game industry and advanced marketing strategies. At the same time, the domestic game industry should consider cultural aspects of overseas markets through analysis of game use in foreign countries. Development of game and entertainment The development of the domestic game industry is in line with the spread of the Internet in Korea. From 1998, the game industry started to create its own market thanks to the spread of the Internet and PC rooms. The volume of the domestic game market reached about 5 trillion won ($5.1 billion) in 2005, creating the biggest market among cultural contents industry. The rapid growth is expected to continue in the coming years. In the mobile, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) and ubiquitous environment, various cultural contents such as cartoon, animation, character and music are expected to lead the future of the nation's cultural industry. Related to this, the ministry is placing the focus of its policy on creating environment where creative, comprehensive, various and high-quality cultural contents can be produced, Wi said. To step up the level of various cultural contents, the focus should be placed on inspiration, imaginative power and creativity of creators. Accordingly, the ministry will focus its supporting policy on enhancing creative power of various contents, including cartoons, animation, character and music. At the same time, the ministry will push ahead with expanding overseas markets, enhancing consumers' recognition, reform of distribution structure and protection of copyrights, he said. At present, the domestic game industry consists of the five game platforms - online game, mobile game, video game, arcade game and PC game. Of the five, online game accounts for 60 percent of the total market, securing the biggest portion in terms of policy and industrial viewpoint. Mobile game is also showing a high growth rate in keeping with change in communication environment, representing high growth potential. Meanwhile, video game is the new field being promoted by domestic game makers. Korea's game industry is regarded as having entered a growth period after passing through an initial stage. Key reasons behind the rapid growth and strong exports of the game industry are good harmony between policy and market and successful external marketing activities, he said. Now, it is necessary to spread competitiveness among game makers to the overall game industry. At the same time, improvement of industrial structure and ecological stability through specialization and cooperation between enterprises has become an important subject. Related to this, the ministry has mapped out a policy to secure structural stability of the game industry through improvement of the ecological environment and distribution structure, while seeking diversification and activation of game contents for creation of new markets, he said. To rectify the bipolarization phenomenon created in the game industry, the ministry is also pushing for a pilot program for cooperation between large and smaller companies, managerial reform of game enterprises, hosting of seminars and investment explanatory meetings for activation of investment, and CEO exchange in reformative enterprises in the game industry. The ministry is carrying out a project to build a foundation for exploration of strategic overseas markets through development of game contents, offering of information on overseas markets and identifying next-generation new platform contents. Game industry-related international events Korea will be holding the G Star 2006, an international game exhibition, in Seoul this year for development of the domestic game industry and promotion of game contents. Last year, 156 game makers from 16 countries participated in the G Star 2005, the second largest game exhibition in the world. Meanwhile, world famous game developers, including a developer of Star Craft, and CEOs from top-level game makers attended the International Game Conference in 2005, a side event of the G Star 2005, and engaged in indepth discussions about the game industry and relevant academic fields. The ministry will actively support the G Star 2006 and the International Game Conference this year to maximize synergy effects of the game industry and make Korea the hub of the Asian game market, he said. 2006 Policy of Cultural Industry Bureau To actively foster the cultural industry as the next-generation growth engine, the ministry has so far exerted best efforts to build overall infrastructure chiefly for movie, music and hallyu sectors. In 2005, the ministry will focus its policy on three core sectors to make Korea one of the world's top five cultural superpowers by 2010. The three core fields are strengthening of support to overseas marketing of cultural contents, settlement of advanced market structure through reform of investment and distribution structure, and construction of a system to activate creation of cultural contents.