By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday his administration will move the National Museum of Contemporary Art (NMCA), currently located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to the former site of the Defense Security Command (DSC) in central Seoul.
The site in Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, located close to Gyeongbok Palace, is now empty as the DSC moved to Gwacheon last November.
``The administration will set up the NMCA at the DSC site and make it home to a lot of artworks,'' Lee said during a meeting with representatives from the culture sector. ``In the long term, we will grow the museum into the most famous culture center in Northeast Asia and make it an attraction for artists and tourists from all around the world.''
As a result, the national museum will have a two-tier system. One in central Seoul will be used for the exhibitions of works, including modern artworks, and the other in Gwacheon will be a place for storage, research and education, an NMCA official said.
Culture and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon has called for the need to move the NMCA to central Seoul to improve public access.
``The location near the so-called ``gallery belt'' of Insa-dong, Sagan-dong and Samcheong-dong is an ideal place to house an art museum,'' Yu said. ``We will develop the area into a Mecca of culture and art.''
Earlier, the government planned to turn the deserted compound into a parking lot. However, critics have said a parking lot would worsen traffic congestion in the area by encouraging visitors to drive their cars.
Many ward offices have competed to accomodate the arts museum. Seocho-gu pushed aggressively to host the new museum, offering financial incentives.
Ministry officials said they would consider a number of options in choosing the site for the NMCA, including public accessibility and the distribution of cultural institutions in Seoul.
Artists have said the area north of the Han River suffers from a relative lack of cultural facilities compared to the wealthier area to the south of the river.