History museum opening delayed

Controversies are mounting over the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, whose opening, which had been scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed indefinitely.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday said that the opening of the museum highlighting the past, present and future of the Republic of Korea has been officially postponed till “all things are rendered.”

“There have been minor glitches ― the height of the exhibition desks was too high, the air conditioning wasn’t too good and we found some typos in the leaflets and other materials,” said Bang Sun-gyu, a ministry official. He said everything might be ready by sometime next week.

But next week seems unlikely: The museum, which cost 44.8 billion won ($41 million), has yet to find its chief. The ministry on Nov. 13 posted a recruitment ad for the position of director of the museum and is still looking for a suitable person.

“The person should have all the necessary administrative skills as well as a ‘balanced sense of history,’” Kim said.

The administration initially attempted to nominate Lee Bae-yong, former head of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, but severe opposition from critics labeling the nomination political favoritism for a close associate of President Lee Myung-bak scuttled the plan. Lee now has joined the campaign for the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye.

Even if the government manages to come up with a director, the museum is likely to face public scrutiny over alleged procedural flaws in the process that led to its establishment. Observers have complained that the museum was hastily put together so that it could be completed before the end of President Lee’s term in office. The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History was one of President Lee’s 100 pet projects. The plan for the museum was announced on Aug. 15, 2008 during President Lee’s Liberation Day speech and while it was initially slated to open in 2014, the opening was pushed back to late 2012, allegedly omitting some important processes and procedures.

“There have been no public hearings, no discussions on the direction of the exhibitions,” said Professor Hong Seuk-ryule of Sungshin Women’s University. “While the U.S. and many other countries discuss the exhibitions with the public for more than a decade, the contemporary history museum has simply ignored all discussions and participation from civic groups.” Hong urged the government to halt the opening and start gathering ideas and opinions from the public and various groups.

“In the meantime, we could exhibit something related to the Dokdo islets and other historical sites,” he said.

Other critics have pointed out that the museum appears to downplay the importance of the pro-democracy movements of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, focusing instead boasting about the economic growth the country has achieved in just decades.

“Museums should not be used to promote the government or certain political ideas. Exhibitions should be objective ― you should highlight both the pros and the cons, the good and the bad in history,” Hong said.

“Korea’s economic growth takes up the majority of the contemporary Korean history. It is what Korean people want to learn about and we will show them as much as we can,” explained Kim Jeong-bae, another ministry official in charge of museum affairs. “We are ready to open and we will not take further steps between now and the museum’s opening,” he said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)