Culture Ministry to appoint new MMCA director following Youn's resignation

Youn Bum-mo, the director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea has officially resigned from his post on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“Youn expressed his desire to withdraw from the director position on April 10 during a meeting with the minister, and it was accepted. We will open recruitment in early May to appoint a new director,” an official from the ministry told The Korea Herald.

Youn was inaugurated to head the state museum in 2019 and was reappointed for another three-year term in February 2022 during the previous Moon Jae-in administration. His term was supposed to expire in early 2025.

Youn, however, has come under scrutiny after the current conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration came into power in May 2022.

The former director came under fire last year when the Culture Ministry unprecedentedly revealed the result of a special audit which showed 16 instances of illegal and inappropriate actions taken by the museum, including purchasing artwork at an auction.

Youn pledged to improve the museum’s system at the New Year's press conference in January while denying some of the audit's findings, saying “it was unfortunate that the museum was subjected to a special audit.”

The museum will be temporarily led by Park Jong-dal, director general for planning and general management, until the new director is hired. The hiring process normally takes two to three months, according to the ministry.