/Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will distribute discount vouchers offering 10,000 won off performance tickets to stimulate spending on the performing arts. In non-metropolitan regions, on-site discounts will also be implemented at cultural centers to support senior citizens and people with disabilities.

The ministry announced on May 21 that it will begin the first distribution of 240,000 performance discount vouchers on May 22 through online ticketing platforms and regional cultural centers outside the capital area. Designed to expand access to the performing arts and inject vitality into a sluggish market, the initiative is funded in part by 4.1 billion won drawn from the 2026 supplementary budget. A total of 400,000 vouchers will be made available, with the remaining allocation scheduled for a second distribution in September.

The vouchers can be claimed through five online booking platforms: Naver Booking, Noluniverse, Yes24, Time Ticket, and Ticketlink. Users can download up to two vouchers per platform on a first-come, first-served basis. The vouchers are issued every Friday at 10:00 AM and must be used by midnight the following Thursday, after which any unused vouchers will automatically expire.

The discounts apply to performances scheduled through September 3. Eligible genres include theater, musicals, classical music, traditional Korean music (gugak), dance, and multidisciplinary arts, while pop music concerts and mainstream dance performances are excluded.

Each voucher provides a flat discount of 10,000 won. Even if an individual ticket is priced under 10,000 won, the discount can still be applied if multiple tickets are purchased together to bring the total transaction amount to 15,000 won or higher. These vouchers can also be combined with existing platform discounts.

To stimulate regional culture, the ministry is separately operating allocations dedicated to non-metropolitan areas. On Naver Booking, Time Ticket, and Ticketlink, users can claim up to two additional vouchers valid exclusively for performances held at venues outside Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon.

Support measures have also been introduced for individuals unfamiliar with online booking. The Korea Arts Management Service plans to operate a dedicated telephone hotline for senior citizens and people with disabilities, offering step-by-step phone assistance for the voucher issuance process across different platforms.

Furthermore, cultural centers outside the capital region will offer on-site discounts for digitally vulnerable groups. Eligible beneficiaries include seniors aged 55 and older, individuals with disabilities, low-income households, and farmers or fishermen. When purchasing tickets on-site for self-produced performances at regional cultural centers priced over 10,000 won, qualifying buyers will receive a discount of 10,000 won per ticket. A list of participating cultural centers and performances is available on the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS) website.

"We hope this ticket subsidy allows citizens to enjoy performing arts more closely in their daily lives and helps the performing arts community regain its vitality," a ministry official stated. "We will continue our sustained efforts to ensure that all citizens have opportunities to appreciate culture and the arts."