Korea Visit Committee overhauls structure for first time in 11 years

The Korea Visit Years Committee announced it has drawn up a reorganization plan to respond to shifting paradigms in the tourism market and prepare for the Visit Korea Years 2027–2029. The restructuring focuses on overhauling the committee's operational framework and strengthening its public-private partnership platform, and takes effect Monday.

The reorganization marks the first comprehensive overhaul in 11 years, since the committee last restructured into a four-team system in February 2015. The committee renamed and redefined the roles of its existing four teams to close the gap between its formal structure and actual operations and to build momentum for upcoming projects.

The planning team, previously focused on administrative management, becomes the Management Support Team and will take charge of designing partnerships with member organizations and diversifying funding sources. It will also establish a performance-based personnel system and lead the optimization of a digital work environment using AI. The public relations team is renamed the Strategic Communications Team and will oversee core strategy functions including external branding, policy messaging and coordination with related agencies.

The marketing team is restructured into the Public-Private Cooperation Project Team, tasked with delivering results from the Korea Grand Sale and identifying new convergence projects tied to K-content. The service improvement team becomes the Tourism Experience Innovation Team, which will address inconveniences tourists face at each stage of their visit and advance digitally driven hospitality services.

The committee also plans to introduce a per-employee project manager accountability system to drive performance and foster professional growth, alongside regular reviews of key project outcomes.

Han Hye-ri, secretary-general of the Korea Visit Years Committee, said the reorganization was "fitting the committee with an execution engine to achieve genuine structural improvement and lay a new foundation for public-private cooperation." She added that the committee would "innovate even the way we work — including the introduction of AI-based intelligent work processes — to be thoroughly prepared for the success of the upcoming Visit Korea Years."