Culture clashes with budget decision

The government has decided to terminate fund-raising for the Korea Culture and Arts Promotion Fund earlier than originally scheduled. Also, it is pursuing to block introduction of a fixed-book price system and impose comprehensive income tax on transfer income from artworks, thus causing a crash in the cultural industry.

Ten organizations under the umbrella of the Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organization of Korea strongly protest the government's decision to avert the Korea Culture and Arts Promotion Fund early. The publishing industry is saying that it will act collectively to realize a fixed-price book sale system. And the arts businesses are struggling to prevent the government from imposing taxes on transactions of artworks.