By Lee Jihae

An event that showcases domestic musicals to foreign production companies has kicked off.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on June 21 said it will host through June 23 the 2022 K-Musical Market at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and the Daehangno area of the capital's Jongno-gu District.

The event seeks to promote creative Korean musicals to leading domestic and foreign musical production companies and investors and provides support for securing investment and consultations.

The event's purpose is to promote Korean musicals abroad and investment in them. This year's edition is the second after the inaugural event was launched last year.

Musical experts from English-speaking countries and Japan including Michael McFadden, Debbie Hicks and Kenichi Suemitsu and leading musical and theater companies from abroad were invited this year.

Domestic musical companies and 16 leading investors including Ilshin Investment Co. will also attend.

The contest "Musical Pitching" will select 15 productions for investment, and "Musical Showcase" will pick five works to be performed in their entirety or their main scenes.

Also scheduled are individual investment consultations between domestic musical companies and investors and between such companies and foreign staff, in addition to symposiums, roundtable conferences and lectures by experts to foster the next generation of musical staff.

The ministry said one or two musicals with positive reviews will receive government support in the second half of the year for localized performances and recitals in the U.K. and China.

Park Jung-Youl, head of the ministry's Culture and Art Policy Office, said in a welcoming speech at the festival, "'Phantom of the Opera' in 2001 led to the exponential growth of the Korean musical market," adding, "Recent Korean cultural content such as 'Squid Game,' 'Parasite' and BTS are gaining high empathy from people worldwide, and I hope for creative Korean musicals to also become content enjoyed all over the world."

Since 2014, the domestic musical market has earned annual sales of KRW 300 billion except during the COVID-19 pandemic. The market share of creative musicals grew from 26% in 2016 to 36% in 2020.

The event is open to anyone interested in Korean musicals. More information is available on the market's official website k-musicalmarket.kr.

jihlee08@korea.kr