Culture ministry apologizes for scandal

By Kim Jae-heun

The culture ministry made a public apology, Monday, for its involvement in blacklisting artists critical of the government, following the arrest of Minister Cho Yoon-sun last week.

This is the first time for both an incumbent minister to be arrested and the government body to admit its abuse of authority against cultural figures deemed critical of the government.

“As the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is supposed to protect and pursue the freedom of expression and creativity of artists, we are embarrassed about excluding artists from public support and infringing on fairness to support the cultural arts,” said First Vice Culture Minister Song Soo-keun, who is currently the acting minister, during a press conference at the ministry office building in Sejong City, south of Seoul.

“We failed to prevent such a mishap and find out the truth about it ahead of time and did not take measures to prevent history from repeating itself. We have no intention to make excuses and all deputies are in deep self-reflection,” added Song.

The acting minister vowed to cooperate with the special prosecution to find out the specific procedure and details of the blacklisting and take any responsibilities that will follow.

To prevent similar scandals in the future, the culture ministry said it will establish an independent organization to act as “culture ombudsman,” receiving reports on undue intervention and unfair cases.

Song also promised to reform the Culture and Arts Promotion Act to lay down regulations that prevent unjust discrimination or intervention from the beginning. Projects that have been restricted or canceled due to unfair infringement will be restored through internal examination.

Minister Cho was arrested, Saturday, for perjury and abusing her authority along with former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon.