Korea National Opera's artistic director resigns

Artistic director Kim Hak-min of Korea National Opera/ Korea Times file

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday it accepted the resignation of artistic director Kim Hak-min of the Korea National Opera (KNO) on Friday.

Kim was said to have recently expressed his will to resign and submitted his letter of resignation earlier this month.

He resigned two years after his appointment in 2015, leaving the position with one year left on his tenure.

This is the first case of resignation by a head of a national arts institute under the new Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan.

It was expected that Kim’s resignation would be accepted after the outdoor opera performance "Camelia Flower Girl" slated for Aug. 26-27 at Olympic Park in Jamsil, eastern Seoul. However, the resignation was quickly accepted by the ministry within a week after Kim's proposal.

It remains to be seen whether any other heads of national arts centers who were appointed during the Park Geun-hye administration will also submit their resignations with the appointment of the new minister who is said to be politically aligned with the Moon Jae-in administration.

"After the decision was made by the artistic director, the ministry concluded it would be difficult for him to lead the organization further," an official from the ministry told Yonhap News.

Kim left at a point when a new performance is to be held within the month. The performance has drawn a lot of publicity for the new format and style of the opera, holding it outdoors and hiring fashion designer Jung Ku-ho to direct the performance.

The ministry said "there will be no problem because the performance is already set and formatted."

The ministry plans to seek out a new candidate when the "Camelia Flower Girl" performance is over.