[2022 National Audit] Serious Concentration of Professional Curators in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] The concentration of museum professional curatorial staff in the Seoul metropolitan area has been found to be at a serious level. Although the number of users per museum is higher in the provinces, professional curatorial staff are more concentrated in the metropolitan area.

Im Oh-kyung, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed this based on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's publication, "2021 National Cultural Infrastructure Overview." She pointed out that expanding both general and professional personnel is urgent for the stable operation of cultural infrastructure facilities located in the provinces.

As of last year, there were 3,087 cultural facilities nationwide, of which 1,118 (36.2%) were located in the metropolitan area. In terms of cultural facilities per population, the metropolitan area has 42.94 facilities per one million people, while the provinces have 76.35, indicating that more cultural facilities are distributed in the provinces.

In the case of museums, the average number of users per facility was 29,885 in the metropolitan area and 34,609 in the provinces, about 5,000 more in the provinces. The number of facilities was 288 and 612 respectively, more than twice as many in the provinces. However, the number of professional curatorial staff was 5.18 in the metropolitan area and 2.75 in the provinces, nearly twice as low in the provinces.

For art galleries as well, the annual number of visitors was about 3.61 million in the metropolitan area and about 3.74 million in the provinces, over 100,000 more in the provinces. However, the total number of staff was 1.5 times higher and curatorial staff 1.2 times higher in the metropolitan area.

Assemblywoman Im Oh-kyung stated, "Despite the increase in citizens visiting museums and art galleries nationwide due to the activation of domestic tourism, personnel capable of providing high-quality content are concentrated in the metropolitan area," adding, "It is necessary not only to expand the quantity of cultural infrastructure facilities but also to cultivate personnel for the substantial operation of programs."

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