Photo Credit: Joel Muniz

The South Korean government launches an initiative aimed at fortifying the country’s developing K-pop artists with a $2.2 million injection.

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, as well as the Korea Creative Content Agency, has announced an initiative to further strengthen the country’s music industry with the selection of 10 independent K-pop agencies for the inaugural “Global Leap Forward Support” project. Each agency will receive up to $218,000 (300 million won) annually for up to three years to finance international promotions, music videos, and international tours.

The inaugural cohort represents “a diverse cross-section” of the K-pop scene, including girl group Rescene, boy group Xikers, rookie group TUNEXX, and five-piece indie ensemble can’t be blue. Kiiras, 82Major, Big Ocean, Uspeer, X:in, and 8Turn make up the rest of the groups selected.

The participating companies may allocate these funds toward projects such as export-focused album and video production, overseas marketing and promotion, as well as concerts and other international appearances.

The initiative is designed to fortify the country’s mid-sized and small music agencies amid growing concerns surrounding market polarization. Global K-pop exports saw an impressive 32.4% year-on-year increase in 2025, but the market remains dominated by a handful of major artists backed by South Korea’s “Big Four” entertainment conglomerates.

“For K-pop to achieve sustainable growth, the smaller agencies that form the backbone of our industry must be able to thrive,” said Choi Sung-hee, Director General of the Ministry’s Content Media Industry Bureau. “We hope this initiative sparks another ‘small-agency miracle’ to lead K-pop’s future.”

According to government data, major label acts performed overseas 20 times more frequently than their indie counterparts. Major entertainment companies spent an average of 43.1 billion won on music production in 2023, compared to smaller agencies’ mere 1.49 billion won average.

Each year, the Ministry plans to select 10 more small and medium-sized agencies with strong growth potential for this initiative. The goal is to surpass mere short-term assistance by continuing to support these agencies for up to three years after performance reviews.