Lawmaker calls for review of youth culture pass budget, citing shift toward blockbusters

People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eun-hee called Friday for a ground-up review of the government's budget proposal for the Youth Culture and Arts Pass program, saying the initiative has strayed from its original purpose after the government announced plans to increase its funding 22-fold next year.

Cho said the program has been distorted into a subsidy for popular films and large-scale concerts — in effect, a "blockbuster subsidy" funded by taxpayers. According to data she obtained from the Arts Council Korea, films accounted for 80 percent of the 387,811 transactions recorded under the Youth Culture and Arts Pass in the first half of this year, with concerts making up another 9.6 percent.

The data also showed a heavy concentration of spending on a handful of hit titles. The top 30 works by payment volume accounted for 243,817 transactions, or 62.9 percent of the total. Three films alone — The King's Warden, Salmokji and Gunche, each of which drew about 10 million viewers earlier this year — recorded 143,357 transactions combined.

The program was originally designed to encourage young people to engage with foundational arts such as classical music, dance and traditional Korean music. The share of such arts in total usage tumbled from 13.3 percent in 2024 to 1.36 percent in the first half of this year, according to Cho's office.

Despite this, the government has proposed a sharp increase in the program's budget. Cho's office said the 2027 allocation would rise to 792.5 billion won from this year's 36.1 billion won ($26.6 million) — a 22-fold increase — while the pool of eligible recipients would expand 33-fold, from 280,000 people aged 19 and 20 to about 9.19 million people between the ages of 19 and 34. The program's eligible uses would also broaden from performances, exhibitions and films to include sports activities.

"At this scale, it is not an expansion of an existing program — it is in effect the creation of a brand-new culture and sports coupon for all young people," Cho said. "The government is inviting criticism that this is a giveaway coupon targeting the youth vote ahead of the general election two years from now — populism in its purest form."