By Kwon Mee-yoo
A national art organization admitted to applying the blacklist of artists critical of the Park Geun-hye administration.
Kim Hae-sook, director general of the National Gugak Center, said the center had to follow orders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) when asked to pre-censor the work of a blacklisted theater director because the center is a subsidiary.
"I feel sorry for the artists and hope such mishaps never happen in this field again," Kim said at a press conference announcing the reopening of the center's concert hall Umyeon-dang, Tuesday. "I personally don't think the order was proper, but it was difficult for me to maintain my innocence as a person affiliated with the ministry."
In November 2015, director Park Kun-hyung was scheduled to stage the musical play "Sowolsancheon" with traditional Korean music group Ensemble Sinawi at the National Gugak Center, but the center asked Ensemble Sinawi to withdraw its collaboration with Park, claiming the play does not meet the requirements of the center's aim to nurture traditional Korean music. Ensemble Sinawi declined the center's request and the performance was canceled eventually.
However, it was assumed that the center excluded Park's work because he fell into disfavor with the ministry for directing "Frog," a play satirizing the former President Park Chung-hee, father of President Park Geun-hye.
Meanwhile, director Park defined his position at a press conference at the Namsan Arts Center, where he will stage his play "All the Soldiers Are Pathetic" from May 13 to June 4.
Park said he heard of the existence of the list before he was ousted from the theater. "If people made the right decision in the (presidential) election, it wouldn't have happened. We all should exercise our sovereignty properly to make sure we don't get disadvantaged by upholding freedom of expression," Park said.