PUBLISHED ONSeptember 10, 2025 4:45 AMBYYeo Shu HuiJYP Entertainment founder and chief producer Park Jin-young has been appointed by South Korea President Lee Jae-myung to a ministerial-level position to promote K-pop culture overseas.
South Korea media reported on Tuesday (Sept 9) that the 53-year-old, who is also known as JYP, will be co-chairing the presidential Commission of Pop-Culture Exchange alongside the country's culture minister Chae Hwi-young.
Jin-young's position is reportedly equivalent to the rank of cabinet minister. The committee will promote South Korean culture abroad while expanding the country's exposure to foreign pop culture.
Jin-young reflected on his appointment in an Instagram post yesterday: "I thought a lot about taking on a government position as a worker in the entertainment industry because it could be burdensome and worrying in many ways, but K-pop is facing a very special moment right now, so I decided to make good use of this opportunity."
He said his goal for K-pop to be loved around the world remains the same over the years. He recounted going to the United States in 2003 to promote South Korean singers to American music companies and the time when JYP's girl group Wonder Girls became the first South Korean artistes to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2009.
He added he will strive to do his best in getting institutional support and to help the new generation of artistes obtain more opportunities while promoting and exchanging South Korean culture.
On Jin-young's appointment, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik described him as one of the most prominent figures in the entertainment industry who spearheaded the K-pop industry to foreign markets.
Kang told local media: "Park has blazed the trail in exporting K-pop content to the United States and now he has become a symbolic figure in the globalisation of K-pop industry."
Jin-young debuted in South Korean showbiz in 1992 as a member of boy group Park Jin-young and the New Generation but only gained prominence in the country's music industry in 1994 as a solo artist. In 1997, he founded JYP Entertainment and helped debut boy group G.o.d, who succeeded in becoming one of the most popular groups in the country in the early 2000s and secured JYP's reputation as a hit-maker.
Over the years, while releasing his own music, his company also debuted and manages multiple K-pop artistes and groups, including Rain, Wonder Girls, 2AM, Miss A, 2PM, Got7, Twice, Stray Kids, Itzy and Day6.
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