“Suspended for letting customers dance?” Culture Ministry moves to overhaul live-club rules, puts 80.2 billion won into next year’s budget

Music industry trapped by outdated standards as major overhaul of Food Sanitation Act rules looms

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is finally moving to address an absurd rule that can suspend a business simply because customers swayed to the music. The government has set next year’s popular music budget at 80.2 billion won, a 38.5% increase from this year, and is focusing its administrative efforts on strengthening the industry’s ability to stand on its own and fixing unreasonable regulations.

Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young took direct aim at the contradictions in the “Food Sanitation Act enforcement rules” during the fourth meeting of the Popular Music Subcommittee of the Cultural and Arts Policy Advisory Committee, held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, on the 16th. “We will use this incident to bring outdated regulations into public debate and clarify them,” he said.

The controversy came to light after a “live club” in Busan recently faced administrative action from its district office for allegedly allowing customers to dance. Under current law, dancing is prohibited outright in spaces classified as general restaurants if they are equipped with sound systems. The measure was originally intended to regulate so-called “mood bars” that engage in illicit forms of business, but it has also ensnared live clubs focused solely on performances, drawing fierce criticism as a textbook example of out-of-touch administration.

Industry appeals, government pledges: “We won’t miss the golden window”

Popular music industry figures who gathered for the advisory meeting called for immediate changes to regulations divorced from reality.

Shin Dae-chul, chairman of the Bareun Music Cooperative, said authorities had applied only a temporary fix through local government ordinances when the same problem emerged in the past, while leaving fundamental legal amendments unaddressed. “This can be resolved by changing a single line of law, so please put in place thorough measures to prevent it from happening again,” he said.

Choi responded that the advisory committee would hold in-depth discussions on “shadow regulations” that run counter to the times and bring them into line with reality. “Now that an issue left unattended for so long has entered public debate, we will not miss this moment and will deliver meaningful regulatory improvements,” he said.

The dilemma of “2027 FANOMENON” and the weight of an 80.2 billion-won popular music budget

The meeting also featured a heated debate over “2027 FANOMENON”, a global festival set to launch next December. The project is being designed under a joint venture led by four of South Korea’s major entertainment agencies — HYBE, SM, YG and JYP — prompting pointed concerns that smaller agencies could face higher barriers to entry.

Composer Yoon Il-sang criticized the project, saying, “The plan appears to have a structural limitation that leaves the rest of the industry, apart from the four major agencies, on the sidelines. I’m concerned that a government-led event may be rushed forward without a transparent open-bidding process.”

Choi stressed that the festival is “a public-private partnership model, not a government-led project,” while maintaining a cautious stance. “We are considering from various angles the level and manner of the government’s involvement,” he said.

Another key agenda item at the meeting was a dramatic increase in the 2027 “popular music budget.” The ministry allocated 80.2 billion won for next year’s related budget, up 38.5% from this year’s 57.9 billion won. Choi emphasized that the increase “far outpaces the 12.8% growth in the overall government budget and the ministry’s 22.6% average,” adding that it reflects “the government’s firm commitment to building a sustainable ecosystem for the popular music industry.”