Seungsoo Kim Criticizes Ineffective Coupon Programs: “Huge Budgets Wasted, Precise Policy Redesign Needed”

Minimal Impact from Elderly Sports Facility Usage Fee Support
Initial Execution Rate at 29.2%, Remaining at Just 58.3% After Project End
Performing Arts Attendance Fee Support Project, 89% of Use Centered in the Seoul Metropolitan Area
Criticism of Policy Design Ignoring Regional Infrastructure Gaps
National Assembly Legislative Research Service Points Out Lack of Performance Management for Accommodation Discount Coupons
Limitations Noted in the Indirect Support Effects of Movie Discount Coupons for Film Production Companies

The government's coupon programs in the culture, sports, and tourism sectors, which have been indiscriminately distributed under the pretext of revitalizing the people's economy, have revealed a low execution rate and only minimal economic impact due to insufficient preparation and poor policy design.

According to Seungsoo Kim, member of the National Assembly for Buk-gu Eul, Daegu, People Power Party, who obtained the "2025 Fiscal Year Settlement" data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the performance of major consumer coupon distribution projects, including the "Elderly Sports Facility Usage Fee Support Project," has been extremely poor.

Seungsoo Kim, Member of the National Assembly (Daegu Bukgu-eul, People Power Party)

First, the "Elderly Sports Facility Usage Fee Support Project," which was allocated 26 billion won through the second supplementary budget last year, recorded an actual execution rate of only 29.2% by the end of the fiscal year.

Even though the Ministry extended the project period and accepted additional applications through 2026, the final execution rate remained at 58.3%.

The program was intended for seniors aged 65 and above, but usage outlets included unrelated businesses such as kids’ cafes. In addition, the program mandated the use of the ZeroPay digital payment system—despite the fact that only 9.5% of seniors over 70 used smartphones for simple payments. This led to criticism that the project amounted to populist cash handouts.

The "Performing Arts Attendance Fee Support Project," a program repeated annually, also saw its execution rate reach just 48.1% out of a 5.1 billion won budget.

In particular, 89% of the transactions were concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, indicating that the chronic regional imbalance caused by the lack of performing arts infrastructure outside the capital has not been addressed.

Furthermore, the "Accommodation Discount Coupon Support Project," which has been mainstreamed into the general budget, has not undergone any performance analysis on its impact on regional tourism and domestic demand. The "Movie Discount Coupon Support Project" has also been criticized by the National Assembly Legislative Research Service for providing only indirect and conditional support to individual film production companies.

Seungsoo Kim stated, "The coupon programs currently being promoted by the government are consuming massive budgets, but their effectiveness is extremely limited." He emphasized, "Comprehensive performance analysis of all coupon projects is needed so that policies can be redesigned with much greater precision."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.