South Korea‘s government has launched a fund to support independent K-pop agencies’ global expansion.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) announced on Tuesday (June 16) that 10 midsized and small K-pop agencies had been selected for the inaugural “Global Leap Forward Support” project.
Each selected agency will receive up to 300 million won ($197,000) annually for up to three years, to fund overseas marketing campaigns, music-video production, and international touring.
“For K-pop to achieve sustainable growth, the smaller agencies that form the backbone of our industry must be able to thrive,” said Choi Sung-hee, director general of the ministry’s Content Media Industry Bureau.
“We hope this initiative sparks another ‘small-agency miracle’ to lead K-pop‘s future.”
The 10 groups in the inaugural cohort are Rescene, Xikers, TUNEXX, can’t be blue, Kiiras, 82Major, Big Ocean, Uspeer, X:in, and 8Turn.
“For K-pop to achieve sustainable growth, the smaller agencies that form the backbone of our industry must be able to thrive.”
Choi Sung-hee, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Rescene, a five-member girl group, is targeting Japan and the United States, with upcoming appearances at KCON LA.
Xikers, a 10-member boy group, is planning a push into Japan.
The seven-member rookie group TUNEXX plans to film a music video and hold showcases in Mumbai.
The five-piece indie band can’t be blue is using its selection in Spotify‘s Radar program to build global fandoms.
The initiative is a response to what the Ministry describes as growing market polarization within K-pop.
According to government data cited by the ministry, K-pop‘s “Big Four” conglomerates – HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment – spent an average of 43.1 billion won ($33m) on music production in 2023.
Smaller agencies spent an average of 1.49 billion won ($1.1m) in the same year – a ratio of roughly 29-to-one.
Acts from the major agencies also performed overseas roughly 20 times as often as those signed to independents, according to the same data.
Global K-pop exports surged 32.4% YoY in 2025, according to data cited by the Ministry.
The Ministry plans to add a further 10 agencies to the program each year, with support continuing for up to three years per cohort, subject to performance reviews.
Each agency may allocate its funding across export-focused album and video production, overseas marketing, and international concert appearances, the Ministry said – replacing a previous model of category-specific grants with a flexible allocation system.
The intervention arrives as K-pop‘s Big Four continue to accelerate their own international operations.
HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment are preparing to establish a joint festival venture – reportedly to be called Fanomenon – with a debut edition planned for South Korea in 2027, as previously covered by MBW.
HYBE alone posted record concert revenues of KRW 763.9 billion ($537.5 million) in fiscal 2025, a 69.4% YoY increase.
Domestically, K-pop‘s physical album sales fell to 93.3 million units in 2024 – down from a record 115.7 million in 2023 – the first year-over-year decline in the market in a decade, as previously covered by MBW.
Overseas, the genre’s commercial footprint has continued to expand: K-pop‘s overseas sales reached KRW 1.24 trillion ($914 million) in 2023, according to data cited in previous MBW coverage of the industry’s regulatory landscape.
KOCCA was established by the government in 2009 to promote South Korea‘s content industries globally, and has since provided loans, export support, and production infrastructure to content companies across music, film, and gaming – making it one of the most active state agencies in global pop culture promotion.
The “Global Leap Forward Support” project channels that backing specifically toward independent K-pop agencies seeking international markets, with the stated goal of broadening the genre’s commercial pipeline beyond the Big Four.Music Business Worldwide
