Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Seouls Opera House project hits snag
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The Seoul Metropolitan Council, dominated by members from the main opposition Democratic Party, is putting the brakes on major projects of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, raising questions about funding and the viability of each.
The latest target the council aims to shoot down is Seoul City’s ambitious plan to build Nodeul Island Opera House as part of its Han River Art Island project.
The municipal council last week passed an ordinance to abolish the planned establishment of a foundation to run the project.
City councilor Park Jin-hyung of the Democratic Party proposed the bill to scrap the plan, claiming that the ground for setting up the foundation without securing stable financial sources was untenable.
The Art Island project was to build a state-of-the-art cultural complex on the 60,800-square-meter site of Nodeul Island in Yongsan. The city government planned to put 586 billion won ($504 million) into the ambitious project.
The main structure was to be a 10-story Opera House — eight above and two underground — with a 2,100-seat concert hall, a 1,700-seat opera theater and galleries. The Opera House was going to house the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
Seoul City has already spent some 52 billion won to purchase the land and on the design of the Opera House. The city planned to attract sponsorship from companies to raise more funds for the project.
However, the council’s repeal of the motion to establish a foundation means the city has to directly operate the Art Island and this will make it difficult to attract investment from the private sector, city officials said.
The municipal government has raised 270 billion won for the construction of the Opera House, but transferred it to a budget for job creation.
Despite opposition from the council, the city government said it will not abandon the project.
“Considering Seoul’s international status, we need a representative cultural facility similar to Sydney Opera House or the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao,” a city official said. “The Art Island should not be canceled or delayed because the opposition party dominates the metropolitan council.”
The Opera House project was first drawn up in January 2005 when President Lee Myung-bak was the mayor of Seoul. In 2006, incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon took over the project, expanding it to encompass a cultural complex.