By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Culture Minister Yu In-chon is under fire for his ill-placed sarcasm on Monday to describe a political struggle involving two artists at a state-backed cultural association. It was not the first time Yu has been in trouble for his "loose lips."
The latest case involved an odd situation triggered by a court decision that reinstated the former chairman of the Arts Council Korea. Now the state-funded institute established to support cultural activities has two chairmen.
"Having two bosses to serve must be an interesting experience for employees," Yu told reporters. His remarks were seen out of place and sarcastic since the council is under Yu's control.
The reinstated head was one of the targets that Yu tried to kick out in his effort to replace heads of the ministry's affiliated organizations with those who are friendly to the conservative Lee Myung-bak government.
As Lee's predecessors did in their early stages of power, the actor-turned-minister pressured heads of state-funded organizations appointed during the presidency of his predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, to voluntarily leave the seats and tried to fill them up with his aides. The administration tried to find fault with those who refused to do so.
Liberal activists and cultural figures say Kim Jung-hun, a 64-year-old painter, is the latest victim of what they call the "outdated" power transfer system as well as the minister's verbal attack.
Kim was appointed as head of the council in Sept. 2007 by former President Roh. He withstood intensified pressures to quit the job from the current administration, claiming cultural affairs should be supported without political bias.
In response, the cultural ministry, headed by Yu, conducted a special audit of the council and found a loss of funds it had invested in the financial market. The ministry fired Kim in December 2008, saying he should take responsibility for the loss, worth four billion won. The government appointed another senior painter Oh Kwang-soo as new head of the council.
Kim filed a suit against the decision and a court recently handed down a verdict nullifying the state decision.
Kim made his appearance at the council's headquarters, Monday, with the new chairman Oh being in the chairman's office. No clash between the two parties was reported. But media outlets churned out reports on the story, depicting it as a revival of the political struggle between the liberal circle and the conservative administration.
Asked by reporters about Kim's reinstatement, the minister, who spearheaded the scheme to kick him out, smirked and said, "He did a good job."
As reporters asked what he meant, Yu added, "I mean both parties. Kim did a good job and the security staff of the council also did a good job. It may be an interesting experience for staff members of the council (to have two bosses at the same time)."
Kim expressed his anger over Yu's remarks in a radio interview aired Tuesday morning, saying, "I will never take them lightly."
Opposition parties also criticized the minister's remarks, calling them "inappropriate."
This is not the first criticism leveled against the minister for his inappropriate language at an official event.
In October 2008, he was targeted for abusive language he hurled in a fit of anger at a photographer in the National Assembly building.
Yu was also blamed for using the terminology that the Japanese use to play down Japan's invasion of mainland China, during a speech to Chinese students.