Government to Support Overseas Expansion of K-pop Groups from Small and Mid-sized Agencies, Including RESCENE

Ten K-pop groups from small and mid-sized agencies, including the five-member group RESCENE, which recently gained explosive popularity online for creating the "Geoje Yaho!" meme, will receive government support for their overseas expansion.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency announced that they have selected 10 groups—RESCENE, xikers, Tunex, KIraS, CantBeBlue, 82MAJOR, Big Ocean, U-SPEER, X:IN, and 8TURN—as the first beneficiaries of the "Global Leap Support for Small and Mid-sized Agencies" project.
This project was introduced this year for the first time to ensure the sustainable growth of the K-pop market. The plan is to select 10 capable small and mid-sized agencies each year and provide up to 300 million won annually for up to three years.
While the K-pop market has shown growth, with revenue increasing by 15.8% and exports by 32.4% in 2025 compared to 2024, there has been criticism that the ecosystem's mid-tier is weakening due to the deepening concentration of resources in large agencies.
As of 2023, the average annual music production cost for large corporations reached 43.11 billion won, whereas that of small and mid-sized enterprises was only 1.49 billion won. Furthermore, the number of overseas performances showed a gap of more than 20 times, with large corporations averaging 83.4 performances per year compared to just 4 for small and mid-sized enterprises.
This project is designed to move away from fragmented support limited to individual areas such as album production or performances, allowing resources to be concentrated where they are most effective according to the agencies' needs and strategies. Each agency can autonomously use the funds in areas necessary for overseas expansion, including the production of export-oriented albums and music videos, local marketing and promotion abroad, and hosting overseas concerts.
Choi Seong-hee, Director General of the Content and Media Industry Policy Office at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "For the sustainable growth of K-pop, small and mid-sized agencies, which are the backbone of the industry, must be able to grow." She added, "We hope that this new project will lead to another 'miracle of small agencies' that can drive the future of K-pop."
(Photo: Screenshot from YouTube channel '안녕하세요원이입니다잘부탁드립니다')
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.