Popular Culture and Arts Planning Business Registration Requirements and Documents — 2 Years of Experience or Training, 15-Day Processing

Procedure

1. 1. Check whether registration is required

   Any individual business or corporation that provides or arranges the services of popular culture artists, or trains, coaches or counsels them for that purpose, must register as a popular culture and arts planning business. Managing affiliated entertainers, arranging appearances and developing trainees fall under this. The registration duty in Article 26 applies to the planning business, so a business that only produces broadcast content or records is considered separately from this registration.

2. 2. Meet the experience or training requirement

   The applicant must have 2 or more years of experience in the popular culture and arts planning business or have completed a related training course at a designated institution, and for a corporation it is enough that at least 1 officer meets this requirement. Training institutions are schools under the Higher Education Act, lifelong education institutions, the Korea Creative Content Agency, and institutions or organizations announced by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Experience is shown by documents proving income earned in this business, and experience that income records cannot prove is shown by a certificate of experience issued by an announced institution or organization.

3. 3. Secure an office and check disqualifications

   Secure a main office and, if leased, prepare proof of the right to use it such as a copy of the lease. Minors, persons under adult or limited guardianship, undischarged bankrupts, persons sentenced to a fine or heavier punishment for violating this Act, crimes of kidnapping, inducement or human trafficking under the Criminal Act, the Act on the Punishment of Arranging Commercial Sex Acts, the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sex Offenses, the Act on the Regulation of Amusement Businesses Affecting Public Morals, or child abuse crimes, where 3 years have not passed, and persons whose registration was revoked less than 3 years ago may not run or work in this business. A corporation also checks whether any officer is disqualified.

4. 4. File the registration application with the city or province

   Enter the planning field on the popular culture and arts planning business registration application (Enforcement Rule, Form No. 1) and file it with the metropolitan city or province, attaching proof of experience or training and of the right to use the office. The official checks the building register, corporate register and business registration certificate through shared administrative information, and if you do not consent to the business registration check you attach it yourself. The processing period is 15 days, the fee is 25,000 won, and a registration certificate is issued once the requirements are met.

5. 5. Training and change registration after registration

   A registered planning business must complete 6 hours of training in the first session after registration and 3 hours every year thereafter, and must arrange for its affiliated artists to receive 1 hour of sex education and sexual violence prevention training every year. If the representative's name, officers other than the representative, the main office location or the trade name changes, apply for change registration within 30 days of the change, with a fee of 15,000 won. Transfers, mergers and inheritance of the business require a business succession report, and suspension, closure and resumption are reported separately.

Required documents

• Popular culture and arts planning business registration application (Enforcement Rule of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Form No. 1)
• Documents proving income earned in the popular culture and arts planning business (when registering on the basis of experience)
• Certificate of experience in the popular culture and arts planning business issued by an announced institution or organization (when some experience cannot be proven by income documents)
• Proof of completion of a popular culture and arts planning training course (when registering on the basis of training)
• Proof of the right to use the main office, such as a copy of the lease (when leased)
• Copy of the business registration certificate (when not consenting to shared administrative information)
• Corporate register certificate (for corporations; checked by the official through shared administrative information)
• Letter of authorization (when filed by an agent)

Fees

Generally from several hundred thousand won to several million won in the industry · We quote after consultation based on whether you are an individual or a corporation, how experience is proven (income records or experience certificate), office arrangements, and whether change registration is included. Government fees are separate.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 2
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 26
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 27
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 28
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 29
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 30
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 31
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 33
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 40
• Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 41
• Enforcement Decree of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 6
• Enforcement Decree of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 7
• Enforcement Decree of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 16
• Enforcement Rule of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 1-2
• Enforcement Rule of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 2
• Enforcement Rule of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Article 3
• Enforcement Rule of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, Annex

Checked against the statutes on 2026-10-07

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• Failing to apply for change registration within 30 days can lead to a fine for negligence of up to 5,000,000 won and is grounds for a business suspension of up to 6 months, so apply promptly when the representative, officers, office or trade name changes.
• Lending your registration certificate or trade name to another person can lead to a fine for negligence of up to 10,000,000 won, and failing to replace a disqualified officer within 3 months is grounds for revocation of registration.

Frequently asked questions