Registration regime for art service businesses to take effect July 26

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Management Service announced Sunday that they will hold a series of regional briefings for businesses ahead of the July 26 launch of a new registration regime for art service operators.

Established under Article 18 of the Fine Arts Promotion Act, the registration regime is designed to foster systematic development and support for the art retail sector and to promote a more transparent art market. Once the regime takes effect, anyone seeking to operate a gallery, art auction house, art advisory firm, art rental or sales business, art appraisal service or art exhibition business will be required to register with the head of the relevant local government.

The briefings will be held in sequence — at Art Korea Lab in Jongno-gu, Seoul on July 9; at Busan Cultural Center in Nam-gu, Busan on July 10; and at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Seo-gu, Gwangju on July 15. Each session will cover key details including the regime's effective date, who must register, the registration process and required documents, and the administrative penalties and fines that apply to unregistered operators.

The briefings are open to art service business operators, officials from related institutions and any other interested parties. Registration is available through an online link or by scanning the QR code in the official notice.

The ministry has spent three years preparing for the regime's implementation since the Fine Arts Promotion Act was enacted in 2023, including gathering expert opinions. In March, it held an on-site consultation to develop the relevant regulations.

Jeong Hyang-mi, director general of the ministry's Culture and Arts Policy Bureau, said the briefings were intended to help the new regime take root smoothly. "Since this is a newly introduced system, we plan to support its stable establishment through these briefings," she said. "We also plan to set a grace period for the registration requirement in order to minimize confusion in the field during the early stages of implementation."