The government says it will invest almost 130 billion won in the Korean pop music industry, which has been suffering from low sales following the spread of illegal music downloads on the Internet.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon on Wednesday announced the ministry’s plans to make Korean pop music a one-point-seven-trillion-won industry by 2013.

For this, the government will seek to set up an official music chart and hold a music awards ceremony similar to the United States' Grammys for the Korean music industry.

The government will also invest about ten billion won in the building of two concert halls in Seoul.