Culture minister, ex-presidential chief of staff arrested over blacklist of 'left-leaning' artists
Former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon (left) and Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun enter the Seoul Central District Court, Friday. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Investigators formally arrested Korea’s Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon on Saturday over their involvement in blacklisting cultural figures deemed critical of the government.
The Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for Cho and Kim. Cho has charges of abuse of authority and perjury, and Kim charges of masterminding the blacklisting. The court said their criminal charges have been substantiated and the suspects could destroy evidence.
An independent council requested the warrants for Cho and Kim on Wednesday as it was looking into an influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil.
The investigators questioned Cho and Kim for 21 hours and 15 hours, respectively, from Tuesday to early Wednesday over allegations that they masterminded the creation and management of the blacklist to deny dissident artists state support.
Cho and Kim were among the closest aides to Park, who now waits for the Constitutional Court’s decision on whether to impeach her. Cho served as the senior presidential secretary for political affairs from 2014 to 2015 and became the culture minister last year. Kim, who served as the presidential chief of staff from 2013 to 2015, is said to have exerted significant influence on state affairs beyond his position.
The list is known to have about 10,000 people on it, including author Han Kang, winner of the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, and director Park Chan-wook, who won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004.
The investigation team's spokesman Lee Kyu-chul said last week that the creation and execution of the blacklist “severely infringed upon the people's freedom of thought and expression."
Lee said the team is now looking into whether President Park was involved in the creation of the list.