Founder of K-pop powerhouse JYP appointed to ministerial-level post on pop culture

SEOUL – Mr Park Jin-young, founder and chief producer of K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment, has been tapped for a ministerial-level position on a new presidential committee launched to promote K-pop culture overseas, according to the presidential office on Sept 9.

Mr Park, a singer-songwriter-turned-executive, will co-chair the presidential Commission on Pop-Culture Exchange, along with Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young.

The new presidential committee will work to promote South Korean culture abroad while expanding exposure to foreign pop culture in South Korea, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said in a briefing.

Mr Kang also described the 53-year-old Mr Park as one of the most prominent figures in the industry, having spearheaded bringing the K-pop industry into foreign markets.

“Mr Park has blazed the trail in exporting K-pop content to the United States, and now he has become a symbolic figure in the globalisation of K-pop industry,” Mr Kang said.

In a social media post on Sept 9, Mr Park pledged to push for practical government support for the K-pop industry and to expand opportunities for fellow artists.

Mr Park was one of the ministerial-level figures nominated by President Lee Jae Myung, along with former minister of governmentlegislation Lee Seog-yeon, tapped as the new leader of the Presidential Committee of National Cohesion, and former lawmaker and architect Kim Jin-ai, who is to lead the Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy.

Mr Lee also named attorney We Chul-whan as the chief of the National Election Commission.

Regarding the vice-ministerial level, Mr Lee named former three-time liberal lawmaker Kim Kyung-hyup as the chief of the Overseas Korean Agency and career civil servants Jung Goo-chang and Cho Sung-joo as vice-minister of gender equality and family and senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs, respectively, among others. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK