The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 6th that it awarded special performance honors to 10 employees who achieved outstanding results in areas such as establishing legal foundations to eradicate ticket scalping and illegal copyrighted content distribution, and planning public-oriented government communication content.
The ceremony was held at the Government Sejong Complex with Minister Choi Hwi-young in attendance.
This marks the ministry's first response to President Lee Jae-myung's directive issued last year, ordering "exceptional rewards for civil servants who deliver outstanding results across the government, while strictly holding unqualified officials accountable."
The ministry categorized the awards into three types to clarify the meaning of special achievements: the "Guiding Star Award," the "Star of Stars Award," and the "Timely Hit Award."
The "Guiding Star Award" is given to those who, like the North Star, guide colleagues and show the way forward. The "Star of Stars Award" recognizes employees who achieved special results by breaking existing frameworks and leading institutional innovation through creative ideas. The "Timely Hit Award," named after baseball's RBI hit, honors employees who solved problems through proactive action at decisive moments, setting an example for others.
Nine employees received a total of 12 million won in "Star of Stars Award" prize money for spearheading legislative amendments to ban ticket scalping in performance and sports sectors and to eradicate illegal K-content distribution, thereby "establishing a foundation to solve the two chronic problems of the cultural industry."
Copyright Protection Division Director Bae Yang-hee, along with Deputy Directors Hwang Hyun-dong and Yoo Mi-hyun, led the amendment of the Copyright Act to strengthen regulations on illegal real-time streaming sites such as "Noonootv," which has emerged as a serious problem recently, and to prevent "a second Noonootv." Notably, the Copyright Act amendment introducing an unprecedented emergency blocking system passed the plenary session on January 29 this year, just two months after being proposed in November last year, thanks to the working-level staff's proactive efforts. This is expected to significantly contribute to breaking the chain of illegal K-content distribution and protecting the creative ecosystem.
International Tourism Policy Division Director Kim Jin-hee (former Performing and Traditional Arts Division Director), Deputy Director Ahn So-young currently on secondment to the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Performing and Traditional Arts Division Officer Ryu Ji-yeon, Sports Industry Division Director Lee Jae-soon, Officer Ahn Jin-su, and Deputy Director Yoon Dong-oh led the amendments to the Performance Act and the National Sports Promotion Act. These amendments prohibit all scalping activities regardless of macro program usage and establish grounds for punishment. This is expected to contribute significantly to resolving ticket scalping problems for popular performances and sports events, providing fair viewing opportunities to citizens who are the actual consumers, and fostering a healthy performance and sports culture.
Additionally, Kwon Cho-rong, a broadcasting stage officer (PD) at the Korea Policy Broadcasting Foundation (KTV) Online Content Department, received the "Timely Hit Award" prize money of 2 million won. PD Kwon planned the programs "Myeongvengers: The Activities of the People's Representatives" and "Jamf's Advisors," which conveyed the working scenes of key government figures at a level accessible to the public. These programs were the first to reveal government operation sites that had been difficult for citizens to access. "Myeongvengers" recorded 1.44 million views on KTV's YouTube channel as of late February, while "Jamf's Advisors" recorded 810,000 views, earning high public engagement.
The "Guiding Star Award" listed among the award categories was not given this time.
Starting with this first special performance award, the ministry plans to focus on boosting employee morale and creating an organizational culture that encourages proactive administration. From this month, the ministry will establish a "Special Performance Award Recommendation (Let's Give Praise)" section on its website to receive stories about civil servants who have achieved results or deserve praise from the public's perspective, and will conduct awards through review.
The ministry quoted Minister Choi Hwi-young as saying, "We will continue to actively seek out and encourage departments and employees who deliver results, and concentrate the ministry's capabilities on creating 'public-oriented' policy outcomes that provide practical help to people's lives."
