The Democratic Party of Korea and the government are pushing to restore the departure payment (departure tax) to its original level. They also reached a consensus that, because performance venue infrastructure and the film production ecosystem lag behind those of major countries such as Japan and the United States, stable funding must be secured to support the cultural industry as a whole.
On the 25th, Democratic Party lawmakers on the Culture. Sports. and Tourism Committee (Moonchewi) of the National Assembly held a "K-culture party-government consultative meeting" at the National Assembly. At the meeting, they discussed next year's budgets and directions for legal amendments across the culture, sports, and tourism sectors.
Kim Kyo-heung, the committee chair of the Culture Committee, met with reporters after the consultation and said, "We focused on reflecting budgets and addressing legal issues to move toward a cultural powerhouse befitting the 300 trillion won K-culture era," adding that opinions were exchanged on building sub-large-scale performance halls, revising the Film Industry Promotion Act, and restoring the departure tax.
The departure tax is a statutory levy imposed on citizens departing through domestic airports and ports, and it serves as a key funding source for the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO)'s major projects, including attracting foreign tourists, revitalizing domestic tourism, and expanding tourism infrastructure. The Yoon Suk-yeol administration lowered the departure payment last July from 10,000 won to 7,000 won. As a result, criticism arose that, with a reduction in a main revenue source of the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund, the investment base for the tourism industry had collapsed.
Kim said, "Other advanced countries are between 20,000 and 30,000 won, but we charged 10,000 won, then it became 7,000 won, and then it disappeared altogether, so it is necessary." On the scale of a departure tax increase, he said, "(The specific amount) needs to be adjusted," adding, "Because the departure tax requires a legal amendment, the bill must pass."
The need for measures such as budget support to address the crisis in the film industry was also highlighted at the consultation. Kim said, "The film industry is having a very hard time now. We usually produce 40 films, but I heard it won't even be 18 this year. So film workers are all leaving," adding, "Active support is needed to revitalize the film industry ecosystem." He continued, "There was a shared message that we agreed to support the budget for culture, arts, sports, and tourism."