Disputes over leadership appointments at cultural and arts institutions under South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) show no sign of easing. After the ministry named Eo Yeon-seon, a theater director and arts administrator, as the inaugural head and artistic director of the National Theater Company for Children and Youth, the relevant performing arts community has called for the appointment to be withdrawn, citing a lack of expertise. Following a string of disputes in the first half of this year over appointments at major cultural institutions including the National Jeongdong Theater and the Korea National Opera, "expertise" and "selection procedures" are once again under scrutiny.
According to the performing arts community on the 14th, children's and youth performing arts professionals, led by ASSITEJ Korea, the Korean center of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, issued a statement on the 11th calling for the withdrawal of the appointment of the head and artistic director of the National Theater Company for Children and Youth, and began collecting signatures. As of 6 p.m. on the 13th, eight associations and 332 individuals and organizations had joined.
The ministry appointed Eo to the post on the 11th for a three-year term. Eo previously served as head of the performance planning team and deputy director of the arts troupe cooperation team at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, director of the theater company Hyunjang, and chief executive of the Gwangmyeong Cultural Foundation. The ministry said it expects her to lead the company's stable launch and growth based on her experience in theater direction and arts administration.
The children's and youth performing arts community, by contrast, takes issue with the fact that Eo's career has centered on general performing arts and arts administration. It argues that because children's and youth performing arts is an independent specialized field, the inaugural artistic director needs direct creative experience in and understanding of the area.
Opposition is especially strong because this is the first leadership appointment at a newly established national arts organization that inherits nearly 15 years of history from the National Theater Company of Korea's Research Institute for Theatre for Children and Youth. Launched in 2011, the institute conducted research and creative work on theater for children and young people, developed productions and studied audiences, and became independent last year as the National Theater Company for Children and Youth. In their statement, arts professionals said, "Performing arts for children and youth is by no means a subsidiary field of general theater," and demanded that the ministry disclose the standards and procedures by which it verified expertise and suitability. The children's and youth performing arts community stresses that the issue is not opposition to a particular individual but a matter of determining the identity and expertise of a fledgling national arts organization.
Similar problems have recurred this year over leadership appointments at cultural and arts institutions under the ministry. The appointment of Seo Seung-man, a former comedian, as chief executive of the National Jeongdong Theater triggered a dispute over expertise in political circles. Seo has experience directing small-scale productions and running a theater, but the opposition questioned the appropriateness of the appointment, citing his past political activity. The appointment of food columnist Hwang Kyo-ik as president of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute also drew accusations of a patronage appointment over his history of publicly supporting President Lee Jae-myung.
