Debate over moving Nat'l University of Arts reignites before local elections

Bang Se-hee, student council president of the Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts), delivers a statement in front of the university in Seoul, April 28, protesting a proposed bill to relocate the school to Gwangju. Newsis

A debate over the possible relocation of the Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts) has reignited ahead of the June 3 local elections, pitting lawmakers’ regional development plans against students, faculty and art professionals who warn the move would undermine Korea’s cultural competitiveness.

On April 22, 11 lawmakers from the Democratic Part of Korea (DPK), led by Rep. Jeong Jun-ho, submitted a bill to relocate K-Arts from Seoul to Gwangju, around 300 kilometers south of Seoul, and establish a graduate school that would grant master’s and doctoral degrees — a long-standing demand from the institution.

The bill’s sponsors argued that the move would address the concentration of cultural infrastructure in Seoul and help stem the exodus of young regional artists to the capital, citing Gwangju’s cultural assets, which include the Gwangju Biennale and National Asian Culture Center.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the university opened in 1992 in Seoul and currently has 4,804 students enrolled as well as 425 faculty members.

The proposal received swift pushback. On April 28, the school released a rare public statement asserting that “relocation discussions that fail to consider the special nature of arts education would risk weakening Korea’s competitive edge in arts education.” The same day, roughly 100 students rallied to protest the plan.

The criticism extended across the art community. Culture critic Choi Yeo-jung said, “unlike manufacturing, which allows for division of labor, the arts industry, which requires creativity, is only possible when people gather in one place,” adding that “while responding to regional decline is certainly necessary, the bill completely ignores how the arts industry actually works.”

K-Arts has long been a political tool. Since the 2009 UNESCO World Heritage designation of Uireung Royal Tomb on the Seokgwan-dong campus triggered relocation discussions, mayoral candidates in Seoul’s Songpa and Nowon districts, as well as Gyeonggi Province cities such as Goyang, Gwacheon, Paju and Hanam, have pledged to attract the school.

On May 1, DPK gubernatorial candidate Choo Mi-ae promised to bring K-Arts to Gyeonggi Province to create an “arts-technology-education cluster,” while DPK’s Sejong mayoral candidate Cho Sang-ho made the same vow.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party, who is running for reelection, slammed the bill as “reckless experimentation with the lives of young people responsible for Korea’s artistic future,” adding that “subordinating industry, culture and education to short-term vote calculations is the DPK’s undeniable DNA.”

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young attempted to close the debate on Saturday by posting on social media that “the idea of moving the campus to the region has never crossed my mind.”

The ministry, which oversees K-Arts and has legal authority to determine campus locations, stated on April 28 it has “not reviewed” the possibility of a Gwangju relocation, citing a 2021 survey showing 80.3 percent of 1,702 respondents preferred it staying within Seoul.