Minister Yoon In-chon: "Changing the Gugakwon Director Recruitment Is Not Taking Away Positions from the Gugak Community"

"Changing the recruitment process to an open format was neither intended to take away positions from Gugak musicians nor to send government officials. Looking toward the future, the doors need to be opened. How long will they continue to do it only among themselves? It's truly frustrating."

On the 21st, Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, expressed his frustration over the recent controversy surrounding the appointment of the director of the National Gugak Center. After finishing the press conference for the Korea-Canada co-produced original musical 'Link' in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Minister Yoo spoke with reporters and shared his thoughts on the ongoing controversies related to various plans promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The National Gugak Center has been vacant for 10 months since former director Kim Un-young retired in June last year. Amid the ongoing recruitment process, rumors have spread that a senior Ministry official at the director level has been pre-selected, sparking strong opposition from the Gugak community. The Gugak community insists that the position of director of the Gugak Center should be appointed to an expert in the field of traditional culture preservation. In particular, the change last December from a career-open to an open recruitment qualification for the director position has become a point of contention.

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is giving a greeting at the production presentation of the Korea-Canada joint creative musical "R:LINK," based on the Battle of Gapyeong, held in front of the Canada Battle Monument in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province on the 21st.
Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Regarding this, Minister Yoo stated, "There is no special reason for changing the regulation to an open format. Until now, only Gugak musicians were allowed to apply for the director position. This is not suitable for the current era. It is strange to have a rule that only Gugak musicians can apply. Changing it so that anyone can apply has been interpreted as changing the regulation to send a government official, but that is not the case."

Minister Yoo also said that the recruitment process for the Gugak Center director is conducted by the Ministry of Personnel Management and that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism cannot intervene. He said, "The final screening process is currently underway, but applicants do not know how their scores were given," adding, "The government official in question might even fail."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also pointed out that the director position has been monopolized by graduates of a specific school. In fact, from the 10th director Lee Seong-cheon in 1995 to the 20th director Kim Young-woon who retired last year, all were graduates of Seoul National University's Department of Gugak.

Minister Yoo said that since opposition from the Gugak community is strong, he plans to listen to the opinions of the entire Gugak community. He said, "This plan was promoted after hearing various stories from the Gugak community, and if we gather overall opinions, there will not be much opposition."

Minister Yoo also explained another controversial issue regarding the relocation of national arts organizations to provinces. The Ministry plans to relocate national arts organizations located in the metropolitan area, such as the National Ballet Company and the National Symphony Orchestra, to provinces in the long term to promote balanced cultural development. First, the Seoul Arts Troupe is scheduled to move to Gwangju, where the National Asia Culture Center (ACC) is located, next year.

Regarding this, Minister Yoo said, "If it becomes an exclusive troupe of the ACC, the Seoul Arts Troupe, which is currently not national, will become a national troupe."

Minister Yoo explained that additional plans to relocate national arts organizations require consultation with local governments. He said, "The government can send the Seoul Arts Troupe because it has the ACC facility, meaning the space is already secured. To send other national arts organizations to provinces, we must first secure performance halls, rehearsal spaces, offices, etc., and consult with local governments that will provide these facilities."

Minister Yoo explained that if consultations are successful, the national arts organizations will be relocated with costs shared equally between the local governments providing the facilities and the government. He also mentioned that discussions with some local governments have progressed considerably and added that additional plans for relocating arts organizations to provinces could be announced within one to two weeks.