Posted on : Apr.7,2019 18:28 KST
Survey shows nearly 43% of artists engage in other work for financial reasons
Seven out of 10 South Korean artists are making an income of less than 1 million won (US$820) a month from artistic activities, survey results show.
According to findings published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) on Apr. 4 from a survey of conditions for artists in 2018, artist households made an average total annual income of 42.25 million won (US$37,189) in 2017, or around 15 million less than the national household average of 57.05 million won (US$50,216). The number was down by 4.58 million won (US$4,031) from the 46.83 million won (US$41,220) average recorded three years earlier in 2014. In particular, income earned from purely artistic activities averaged just 12.81 million won (US$11,276).
In terms of artistic earnings, 28.8% of responding artists said they did not earn any more from their art, while 27.4% reported earning less than 5 million won (US$4,401) a year, 10.7% between 5 million and 10 million won (US$4,401-8,802), and 5.8% between 10 million and 12 million won (US$8,802-10,562). The numbers indicate that 72.7% of artists earned less than 1 million a month on average from the source of their professional identity. Surveys of conditions for artists are conducted every three years according to the Artist Welfare Act to determine the environment in terms of artist welfare and production for use as basic data to protect artist rights and develop welfare policies.
The survey findings showed 57.4% of artist respondents characterizing themselves as full-time artists. Seventy-six percent of full-time artists worked freelance, an increase of 3.5 percentage points from three years prior. Among the 42.6% who engaged in other work in addition to their art, 70% were found to have been unable to devote themselves fully to artistic activity due to income-related issues.
Significant differences were also observed between fields. Among 14 areas examined, specialists in architecture showed the highest average total household income at 129.2 million won (US$113,725), followed by specialists in crafts (54.68 million won, or US$48,176), broadcast entertainment (53.76 million won, or US$47,316), and photography (49.26 million won, US$43,355). Incomes were comparatively lower in fine arts (35.19 million won, US$30,971), film (37.14 million won, US$32,688), literature (39.96 million won, US$35,170), and theater (40.82 million won, US$35,927). The survey was conducted between May and November 2018 in one-on-one interview form with 5,002 artists in 14 total areas.
By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter
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