Culture ministry launches blacklist committee
Culture minister Do Jong-whan speaks during the first session of the fact-finding and reform committee on the blacklist at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Do Jong-whan, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, presided over the first session of the fact-finding and reform committee on the blacklist of artists critical of the previous Park Geun-hye administration, Monday, as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) steps up to clean up the traces of the incident that shook the ministry.
"Everyone has the right not to be excluded, discriminated against or placed under surveillance. The committee will provide an institutional strategy to prevent such an unfortunate incident happening to artists,” Do said. "There shouldn't be any kind of blacklist or whitelist, dividing artists by political and ideological standards."
The previous President Park Geun-hye handed down a list of artists and cultural figures against the government to the culture ministry and those on the blacklist were prevented from receiving support and subsidies from the government. Former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon was sentenced to three years in prison and Cho Yoon-sun, the former culture minister, received one year in prison suspended for two years.
The committee will work on clearing up vestiges of the blacklist and consists of four culture ministry officials and 17 outside experts. Minister Do co-chairs the committee with veteran artist Shin Hak-chul, known for Minjung art, a political and populist art movement from the 1980s.
Shin said, "Korean artists were not able to enjoy full freedom of expression due to the state of a divided nation for decades. This unfortunate incident will serve as a good lesson for the committee to create an environment where artists are treated fairly."
The committee has three departments _ the fact-finding subcommittee led by attorney Cho Young-sun; institutional improvement subcommittee led by Lee Won-jae, head of the cultural policy center at civic group Cultural Action; and publication of white paper subcommittee led by theater critic Kim Mi-do.
Attorney Cho said the committee will go through data provided by the Board of Audit and Inspection, aiming to investigate the incident in a comprehensive and administrative way.
"If we find illegal activities, culture ministry officials could be disciplined or charged," Cho said.
The first item on the committee's agenda is to restore projects eliminated by implementation of the blacklist. The committee will run for at least six months from now, but the period of activity could be extended for three months through the committee's approval.
"I sympathize with people who are unconvinced by the court's decision over figures related to the blacklist,” Culture Minister Do said. "The second trial will proceed while the fact-finding committee is active and we hope to find new evidence."