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Busan Metropolitan City’s Signature Youth Cultural Policy “Youth 10,000 Won + Culture Pass” Gains Popularity for a Third Consecutive Year

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that recruitment for participants in the “Busan Youth 10,000 Won + Culture Pass,” a program designed to expand cultural opportunities for young people, closed early on April 30 due to overwhelming interest from applicants. The first round of ticket reservations, which began on May 4, has also proceeded smoothly, continuing the program’s strong popularity.

The program is Busan Metropolitan City’s signature youth-tailored cultural policy, enabling young people to enjoy a wide range of cultural content for only KRW 10,000.

On the day applications opened, temporary traffic congestion occurred on the Dongbaekjeon app as applications for both fuel price damage relief funds and the Culture Pass were concentrated simultaneously. However, the system operated stably through concurrent access control, and the application process concluded successfully.

The first round of performances currently available for reservation includes a diverse lineup of genres such as musicals, plays, and classical concerts. Some highly anticipated performances sold out quickly as soon as reservations opened, demonstrating the strong cultural demand among young people.

Selected participants can issue and register a Busan Bank Dongbaekjeon Card through the Dongbaekjeon app, recharge KRW 10,000, and choose one desired performance during the designated reservation period.

Busan Metropolitan City stated that this year’s recruitment once again confirmed the strong cultural demand among young people and the need to further improve cultural accessibility.

As a result of the “separate recruitment by voucher category (KRW 100,000 voucher and KRW 50,000 voucher)” system newly introduced this year (2026), the KRW 50,000 voucher category in particular drew 8,700 simultaneous users competing for 1,000 available spots, reaching full capacity within just three minutes. Reflecting this demand, the city plans to continue expanding customized cultural offerings such as “regional performance packages.”

In addition, the program has strengthened the diversity of the local cultural ecosystem by moving beyond performances led mainly by major entertainment agencies and introducing packages featuring regional festivals and local small-scale performance organizers.

Furthermore, by expanding support to include exhibitions and linking newly established venues such as Busan Concert Hall and Nakdong Art Center, as well as regionally specialized content such as international theater festivals, the program has been recognized for significantly broadening the range of cultural experiences available to young people.

Now entering its third year, the Culture Pass has dramatically lowered barriers to entry by allowing any young person between the ages of 18 and 39 with an interest in cultural experiences to apply, regardless of income level.

As a universal policy that provides a once-in-a-lifetime cultural opportunity, the program is operated on a first-come, first-served basis to ensure transparency and fairness.

However, as concerns have been raised that the first-come, first-served system may lead to excessive competition, Busan Metropolitan City plans to carefully review possible long-term changes to the selection process by comprehensively considering policy effectiveness and public trust.

The city will continue to sequentially announce future performance and exhibition reservation schedules while also continuing to offer major regional cultural content that received strong public response last year, including the Busan International Rock Festival and the Busan Fireworks Festival.

Kim Gui-ok, Director General of the Youth and Industry-Academia Bureau, stated, “The fact that applications have closed early for three consecutive years demonstrates how strong the demand has been for practical cultural support that young people can genuinely experience,” adding, “We will continue expanding both the budget and cultural content so that young people can enjoy cultural activities without financial burden.”