Korea's new art market law gets off to a shaky start
Part one of the Art Promotion Act, which came into effect in July, has left dealers struggling to comply amid widespread administrative confusion
South Korea's Art Promotion Act, enacted on July 26, marks its first legislation governing the country's art market. The implementation has been marred by infrastructural hurdles, with the enforcement decree and implementing rule released only two days prior. Municipal officials processing the paperwork arrived at their training session three days after the rules went into effect.
A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism spokesperson confirmed a one-year grace period until July 25, 2027, to accommodate the confusion. Six art business categories—galleries, auction houses, advisers, and appraisers—now need to report to their local district office. The ministry projects around 5,000 businesses will be affected, with penalties of up to 5 million won ($3,500) for non-compliance beyond the grace period.
Despite the grace period aiming to check readiness, industry awareness remains uneven. Some galleries believe the law's mandatory record-keeping serves primarily high-end artists and deepens the gap between the wealthy and the less affluent. The Galleries Association of Korea has been addressing members' questions about filing procedures, revealing that no online system was ready until media reports informed them.
Resale royalties, designed to benefit artists, will grant a percentage of a work's resale value to the artist for their lifetime plus 30 years. However, the royalty rate and distribution procedure remain undefined. The government is considering a minimal-data model similar to music-royalty collection. South Korea will be the first major Asian art market to implement resale royalties.
Written by urgent.news from The Art Newspaper's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
