South Korea’s national museum director resigns over misattributed calligraphy
Yoo Hong-jun has announced his resignation as director of the National Museum of Korea after a calligraphy work from his collection was exhibited under the wrong attribution. The museum removed the work. Parliamentary scrutiny also addressed his recommendation of the object and the initial failure to disclose that it belonged to him.
Arts··Night
Yoo announces his departure after parliamentary scrutiny
Yoo Hong-jun has announced that he will leave his post as director of the National Museum of Korea, South Korea’s national museum. His decision on 21 October followed controversy over a calligraphy work from his private collection that entered an exhibition under an incorrect attribution. He accepted responsibility for the mistake and the damage to the institution’s reputation.[1], [2]
The announcement came two days after he answered questions in parliament on 19 October. Yoo had taken office in July of the previous year, giving him a tenure of approximately 15 months. He said the trust built by the museum and its staff had suffered following his personal mistake, and that resignation was the appropriate response.[1], [2]
The calligraphy was attributed to the wrong historical figure
The object appeared in a special exhibition about food culture that opened in July. It was initially identified as a work by Park Won-geun, an independence activist. Later examination identified its creator as Park Jung-yang, a figure who collaborated with Japanese colonial rule. The museum removed the work from display after the attribution changed.[1], [2]
Yoo apologised and acknowledged a problem with verification. During parliamentary scrutiny, he said confidence in his own expertise had led him not to request a separate appraisal. The work’s route into the exhibition therefore became part of the questioning alongside the incorrect identification.[1]
The director had bought and recommended the work himself
Yoo bought the calligraphy at an online auction in 2019 for 50,000 won. He personally recommended that it be included in the exhibition. The museum’s initial statements following its removal did not identify him as the owner, bringing the relationship between his private collection and the public exhibition under scrutiny and raising possible conflict-of-interest questions.[1], [2]
At the hearing, Yoo also described the failure to disclose ownership as a mistake. He denied intending to make a personal gain from exhibiting the work and said that he had planned to donate it. His decision to leave followed those explanations and his admission that the verification process had failed.[1]
The museum says it will strengthen advance checks of exhibits and their content, expand the involvement of internal and external experts in modern history, and establish a separate procedure for previously undisclosed private works.[2]
