Recently, as the popularity of K-contents has increased, illegal distribution has been increasing both domestically and internationally. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism stated that “the number of visitors to illegal video streaming sites is increasing, and cases such as the emergence of illegal sites dedicated to web novels continue to occur, but the response methods have become more complex as the online environment has become globalized and advanced.”

The government agencies will strengthen inter-agency cooperation to eradicate illegal distribution, including investigating and cracking down on copyright infringement, blocking access to illegal reproduction sites, responding to overseas copyright infringement, and improving the recognition of content users.

In addition, through the working group of the inter-agency cooperation, the plans of each ministry will be compiled. The Video Copyright Protection Council, composed of companies and institutions in the broadcasting, film, and online video service (OTT) sectors, will collect opinions from the industry, and plan to announce the measures to eradicate illegal K-content distribution in June.

Im Sung-hwan, director of the Copyright Division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “As a savior on the export front, the export value of the content industry has shown a high growth rate of an average of 9% over the past five years (2017-2021),” and said, “Through this inter-agency cooperation, we plan to develop an active and innovative comprehensive plan to protect K-content copyrights and maintain the growth of the content industry.”