Sixteen companies that operated entertainment agencies and did not go through legally necessary registration procedures will be investigated by the police.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on the 12th that it has requested the competent police to investigate 16 companies suspected of operating without registration of the pop culture and arts planning business. The company’s information was also delivered to local governments in charge.
The pop culture and arts planning business is a business that plans and manages the activities of popular culture artists such as celebrities. In accordance with the relevant laws, business registration is required with the competent local government to do this. If you operate without registration, you can face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.
The request for the investigation came after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism directly looked into suspected companies. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism confirmed the registration status of companies with local governments in charge of registration. In the process, 50 companies that may have unregistered business or operational problems were selected for on-site inspections.
As a result, 16 places where registration was not confirmed were subject to investigation.
There was also an “opportunity” before the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism began full-fledged management. From September 18 to December 31 last year, the guidance period was operated for unregistered planning companies. At that time, the number of new registrations increased by about 50% from the previous year.
Nevertheless, when a company suspected of operating without registration remained, this time, the process was passed by a police investigation. Suspected cases of non-registration identified through reporting to the National Newspaper and self-monitoring were also included in the inspection.
The government’s management style will also change in the future. Until now, if the weight has been put on checking whether the company has the registration requirements, from the 20th, we will regularly check whether the requirements are maintained even after registration.
Under the revised law, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism can check compliance with the registration requirements of popular culture and arts planning companies at least once a year. At the time of registration, even if the requirements were met, the basis for canceling the registration of companies that did not meet the standards was also prepared.
An official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “The registration of the planning business is not just a one-time procedure, but we plan to regularly check the registered companies to continue to comply with legal requirements.”