President Meets Director of KPop Demon Hunters and TWICE to Discuss Future of K-Pop

President Lee Jae-myung met with the production team behind Netflix’s animated series *KPop Demon Hunters* and K-pop group TWICE to discuss the future development direction of South Korea’s cultural industry. The president emphasized that the cultural industry must be developed as a core national industry, stressing a principle of government support without interference. He appeared on Arirang International Broadcasting’s program “K-Pop: The Next Chapter” alongside *KPop Demon Hunters* director Maggie Kang, TWICE members Jihyo and Jeongyeon, music producer and DJ R.Tee, and critic Kim Young-dae. The president stated, “Opportunities to properly showcase the power of Korean culture are now truly beginning,” adding, “We will build a solid foundation to turn it into a core industry.” At the same time, he acknowledged concerns that South Korea’s cultural industry appears glamorous on the surface but may be hollow with rotting roots, saying, “I agree with these criticisms. The government will create strong roots, and we will start doing this right now.” Specifically, the president took a cautious stance on the government’s role. He noted, “There is an inherent control instinct among political powers to manipulate and exploit culture,” and pointed out that although the principle of supporting without interfering has been formalized, it is often not properly followed. He also explained, “Monitoring and regulation, such as blacklists, are killing cultural arts, and creating a free environment is what the government must do.” The president further emphasized the need to expand the base of the cultural and artistic sectors. He said, “Opportunities should be evenly distributed across the cultural and artistic fields so that everyone can pursue them, but this area has been largely neglected. We must invest heavily and provide support for the cultural ecosystem to enable more people to take on challenges.” Regarding ways to expand K-pop’s reach, the president highlighted the shortage of performance infrastructure. He mentioned, “Japan claims to have well-developed concert venues, but our country does not have many such facilities, and there are almost no large-scale venues. We need large-scale venues, and if that’s not possible, we are considering adapting existing facilities to make them usable.” Meanwhile, the global success of *KPop Demon Hunters*, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Netflix, is viewed as an example demonstrating the potential for growth in South Korea’s content and cultural industries. During a cabinet meeting, the president had previously stressed, “*KPop Demon Hunters* is a new source of national strength for Korea,” adding, “We must intensify our efforts to solidify Korea’s status as a cultural powerhouse.”