Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, recently expressed his position regarding the controversial appointment of the Director of the National Gugak Center, stating that "the matter has not yet been decided."
The Director of the National Gugak Center holds a senior civil service position equivalent to Grade A in the high-ranking public officials group (Deputy Vice Minister level). Since the retirement of former Director Kim Young-woon in June last year, the position has remained vacant for 10 months. It is known that the recent recruitment process is nearing its final stage, and controversy has arisen as a senior official at the director level within the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is reportedly being appointed. The traditional music community is strongly opposing this, insisting that the Director of the National Gugak Center should be an expert with deep knowledge of traditional arts. In fact, the position has historically been held by figures from the traditional music community.
On the 19th, at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, Minister Yoo responded to the Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye’s remarks regarding the appointment rumors of a senior official in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism by saying, "The appointment of the Director of the Gugak Center is not done by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism but requires the President’s approval," and added, "The matter has not yet been decided."
Regarding the opposition from the traditional music community, Minister Yoo said, "I think they have the right to make such claims and I fully understand them," but also stated, "We are conducting the personnel process fairly in our own way to ensure that a suitable person is appointed."
Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is responding to questions from lawmakers at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 19th. Photo by Yonhap News
After former Director Kim Young-woon retired in June last year, a recruitment process for the Director of the National Gugak Center was conducted once. At that time, two candidates from the traditional music community, both university professors, were shortlisted as final candidates, but the conclusion was that there were no suitable candidates, and ultimately no director was appointed. Regarding this, a figure from the traditional music community pointed out that both candidates were excellent and suitable for the position of Director of the Gugak Center, but the appointment was not made at that time, and no clear explanation was given.
Subsequently, a re-recruitment was conducted recently, and controversy arose as rumors of a senior official’s appointment within the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism surfaced. Moreover, it became known that in December last year, just before the re-recruitment, a presidential decree was amended to change the Director position of the National Gugak Center to an open-type position that even civil servants can apply for, which led to strong opposition from the traditional music community.
The traditional music community formed an emergency countermeasure council earlier this month and has been issuing statements daily. On the 19th, the Korean Gugak Society, Korean Gugak Education Society, Korean Gugak Education Research Society, Pansori Society, and Korean Folk Song Society released a joint statement under the name of their presidents, stating, "The Director of the National Gugak Center must be appointed as a person with profound expertise in traditional arts overall," and "We strongly oppose the appointment of an administrative civil servant with no knowledge of traditional arts as the Director of the National Gugak Center."
The day before, 27 current and former artistic directors of the four Gugak performance groups at the National Gugak Center issued a statement claiming, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is trying to appoint a senior administrative official with no expertise in traditional music as the Director of the National Gugak Center," and "All current and former artistic directors of the Gugak performance groups strongly oppose this."
On the 7th, former directors and research directors of the National Gugak Center released a statement asserting, "The appointment of a senior civil servant from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the position of Director of the National Gugak Center must be withdrawn for the development of our traditional culture and performing arts."
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