President Lee Formally Inaugurates the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange
On October 1, 2025, South Korea’s KINTEX convention center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, transformed into a stage where policy met pop culture. President Lee Jae Myung formally inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, a new body that places popular culture at the heart of Korea’s national strategy. The event was a declaration that creativity, fandom, and soft power are now matters of statecraft.
Before delivering his speech, Lee toured a “K-culture experience zone” with J.Y. Park, founder of JYP Entertainment and now co-chair of the committee. Surrounded by lightsticks, photo booths, and displays of K-pop memorabilia, Lee laughed and posed inside a photo booth with a frame featuring RM from BTS. When Park explained how lightsticks allow fans to become part of the performance, Lee replied, “It’s fan sovereignty. There’s a big difference between being treated as the owner and just a bystander.” The remark quickly became the day’s defining quote.
In his keynote address, Lee promised to “actively support popular culture so that it can go beyond providing laughter, emotion, and empathy to people around the world and become a core industry of the Korean economy,” while upholding the “arm’s length principle” to support but not interfere, so that autonomy and creativity can fully flourish. Quoting independence leader Kim Gu, he added, “The only thing I desire infinitely is the power of high culture,” and reaffirmed that “the most Korean is also the most global.”
The new committee embodies that vision. Co-chaired by Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young and J.Y. Park, the committee comprises 39 members: 26 private-sector experts representing music, gaming, webtoons, film, lifestyle, and investment, as well as 10 vice ministers and senior presidential secretaries. Its mission is to coordinate across ministries, strengthen Korea’s global competitiveness, and ensure creative industries have a direct voice in policymaking. The presidential office described it as a “one-team platform” merging public infrastructure with private creativity. A planned “Phenomenon Festival” in 2027 will bring together global fans and creators to showcase the diversity and influence of K-culture.
The ceremony’s tone was both celebratory and strategic. Performances by LE SSERAFIM and Stray Kids reflected the international success of Korean artists, while Lee’s traditional blue hanbok and informal exchanges with industry leaders projected cultural confidence. Every element, from the set design to the president’s use of fan vernacular, communicated that culture is no longer a soft afterthought, but a central force in defining Korea’s identity, economy, and diplomacy.
At its core, Lee’s initiative marks a paradigm shift in cultural governance. Korean pop culture, once driven mainly by private industry and global fans, is now being formally woven into national policy. By situating the committee directly under the presidency, Lee elevates creative industries alongside technology, energy, and trade as engines of growth. His rhetoric suggests a belief that cultural exports can not only drive economic opportunity but also enhance Korea’s global stature and influence. The emphasis on “support but not interference” is a direct response to artists’ fears of bureaucratic control, promising a government role that empowers rather than directs.
The concept of “fan sovereignty” provides this vision with its emotional and philosophical foundation. By invoking the language of sovereignty, which is normally reserved for citizens or nations, Lee positions fans as co-owners of Korea’s cultural power. In this framing, fandom is not mere entertainment; it is participatory democracy in miniature. Fans are not passive consumers, but active contributors who stream, translate, organize, and amplify cultural products across borders. Their engagement, Lee suggests, is an expression of both national pride and global citizenship.
Yet the challenges of translating that philosophy into policy are significant. Even under an arm’s length principle, state support inevitably shapes which artists, companies, and projects receive visibility and funding. The inclusion of major entertainment agencies, such as HYBE, SM, and YG, underscores both the committee’s reach and its potential for imbalance. Independent creators may question whether “fan sovereignty” extends to them, or whether cultural participation will be filtered through corporate gatekeepers. Maintaining fairness and creative diversity will test whether the committee’s rhetoric of openness can withstand institutional gravity.
There is also the question of measurement. Turning culture into a “core industry” invites economic metrics, such as export revenues, streaming numbers, and international rankings, but artistic vitality resists quantification. The committee’s success will depend on whether it values innovation and authenticity as much as global popularity. The line between celebrating K-culture and commodifying it will be a fine one.
Still, the initiative’s ambition is unmistakable. By aligning cultural policy with national strategy, Lee Jae Myung is redefining what it means for a government to invest in creativity. His approach acknowledges that Korea’s global influence is inextricably linked to its cultural imagination. In doing so, he reframes the social contract between state, artist, and citizen; the government provides infrastructure and legitimacy, industry produces and innovates, and fans embody and sustain the movement.
By the end of the Kintex ceremony, as lightsticks glowed and performers took the stage, Lee had done more than inaugurate a committee; he had articulated a new vision for how nations wield power in the twenty-first century. “Fan sovereignty” may have started as a spontaneous phrase, but it encapsulates something deeper: a recognition that creativity belongs to everyone, and that culture itself can be a form of democratic participation.
If Lee’s committee lives up to its promises, it could redefine Korea’s cultural future through collaboration. And if his words hold true, the people who make that future possible will not just be citizens or consumers. They will be, as he said, sovereign.