From the establishment of the Korean government to the launch of the administration of President Lee Myung-bak - Korea's culture policies have been devised and implemented in relation to the external environment, internal circumstances and complex int...
From the establishment of the Korean government to the launch of the administration of President Lee Myung-bak - Korea's culture policies have been devised and implemented in relation to the external environment, internal circumstances and complex interactions between policy makers. A close look at these factors reveals that, while the external environment and internal circumstances may change, considerations related to policy decisions are continuous and consistent.
From the birth of the Korean government to the Kim Dae-jung administration, the government played a leading role in bringing about policy changes in the culture sector. Political incidents and dramatic circumstantial changes in different administrations created opportunities to build the foundations for different culture policies. This, in turn, caused major shifts in the culture policies of Korea.
Culture policy shifts have a causal relationship with path dependency which occurs whenever a new administration assumes office. The focus of culture policies has been different with each administration. While the focus was on the foundation of art and culture during the Park Chung-hee administration, President Chun Du-hwan expanded cultural infrastructure. It was not until the Kim Young-sam administration that cultural welfare policies were structured and standardized. During the Kim Dae-jung administration, more official cultural welfare policies were devised as the change of administration.
The idea of a culture industry was first conceived during the Kim Young-sam administration, and during the Kim Dae-jung administration (He named himself the "culture President"), the cultural sector, along with IT industries, saw dramatic growth as they were at the center of the government's development initiative. These policy imperatives continued in the Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak administrations.
Shifts in culture policy focus were path dependent or path independent depending on the administration. Proactive cultural welfare, promotion of the culture industry as a new growth engine, renewed emphasis on cultural exchanges in Asia and a global Korea aimed at redeeming its historical identity, have already been implemented in line with the change of cultural forces in the Lee Myung-bak administration.
Implications of this research are as follows:
Changes in culture policies, unlike those of other policies, have been greatly affected by political and economic changes. Factors in the external environment have affected internal circumstances of culture policies, which have been expressed as support and demands towards those who devise and implement culture policies.
Political incidents and dramatic turns of events opened policy windows and laid the foundations for culture policies. They caused shifts in culture policies and served as opportunities to bring about policy changes based on the demand of contemporary culture policy. It has been reconfirmed that government officials play a critical role in formulating and implementing culture policies. Nevertheless, there is a little bit different opinions on the subjective role of public officials in the policy shifts. Culture policies, in nature, are outside the realm of government powers. But subjects under culture policies and individuals working towards/for culture policies are addressed by different government offices which lack consistency and unity. Therefore, those in the culture sector and culture policies should be placed at the forefront of culture policy initiatives.