 |
| ▲ Culture Minister Yu In-chon speaks during a press conference held at Modu Art Theater in central Seoul on Oct. 30, 2023. (Yonhap) |
culture minister-press conference
New culture minister aims to reform artist support system
By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- Culture Minister Yu In-chon announced his intention to overhaul the country's approach to supporting artists during his inaugural press conference Monday.
Yu, who took the position just two weeks ago, outlined his plan to shift the current system, which disburses small amounts of funding to numerous individuals, to a more targeted and effective model.
"While providing aid to a broad spectrum of artists is commendable, we believe it would be better if the support was more efficient," he said during the press conference held at the Modu Art Theater, a new state-run theater for the disabled that opened earlier this month in central Seoul.
Under the new direction, the government will focus on nurturing exceptional works of art and those with the potential to achieve excellence, ultimately enabling them to gain international recognition, he said.
The government will expand support for artists to include legal counsel and marketing assistance and to cover works created one or two years ago, not only new artistic endeavors, according to the minister.
For this, Yu plans to introduce a new review system in which employees of the ministry's affiliated agencies that support the cultural and arts community are held responsible for their selection of applicants.
Revamping the screening system will also help prevent any recurrence of the "blacklist scandal," in which the former Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak governments created lists of artists deemed critical of the conservative governments and excluded them from state subsidies, the minister said.
Having served as culture minister from 2008-11 during the Lee administration, Yu was dogged by allegations in his parliamentary confirmation hearing that he was involved in creating the list.
He once again flatly denied the allegations during the press conference.
"There are allegations that my name was mentioned more than a hundred times in a white paper on the blacklist, but that's not true," he said.
He added he does not trust the white paper, which he argues is "irresponsibly based on this-and-that rumors and allegations."
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
