Artists protest National Theater for Young Audiences’ non-specialist appointment

“It is heartbreaking. Can the professionalism of artistic creation for the future of children and adolescents be treated so lightly? We, who engage in performing arts for infants, children, and adolescents, express deep regret over this personnel disaster and demand the withdrawal of the appointment.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appointed Eo Yeon-seon, head of the Gwangmyeong Cultural Foundation with almost no relevant performance experience, as the first director and artistic director of the National Theater Company of Korea for Young Audiences, which was newly launched earlier this year. In response, over 330 field performing artists and organizations jointly issued a statement strongly protesting the decision. The National Theater Company of Korea for Young Audiences began in 2011 as the Children and Youth Theater Research Institute under the National Theater Company of Korea and became an independent entity this year after 15 years. This marked the realization of a long-cherished wish by field artists who have dedicated themselves to creating performances for children and adolescents. However, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appointed Eo Yeon-seon, head of the Gwangmyeong Cultural Foundation, as the inaugural director and artistic director. Eo’s career includes starting with madang plays in college, producing and performing works such as *Torch* and *Dawn of Labor* with the theater group Hyunjang, and serving as the group’s representative from 2005 to 2012. In 2012, during the tenure of former Mayor Park Won-soon, when director Park In-bae, a symbolic figure of the theater group Hyunjang, was appointed president of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Eo joined the center as head of the cultural arts education team, sparking controversy over being a “parachute appointment.” He worked at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts until 2021. His career does not qualify him as a specialist in children’s and youth performing arts.

In their statement, field artists said, “The inaugural artistic director is not just the first appointment but a position that determines the future. Nowhere in his career can one find expertise in children’s and youth performing arts. It was a moment when the professionalism and history of children’s and youth performing arts, painstakingly built over time, were crushed.”

◇Silent Artists, Fourth Collective Action

This statement protesting the appointment of the head of the National Theater Company for Young Audiences comes amid growing voices from artists who had remained silent about a series of “personnel disasters” in Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism-affiliated institutions and arts organizations.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young previously appointed Hwang Kyo-ik, a “taste columnist,” as head of the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute in April, stating, “Based on deep insight and diverse field experience, he will greatly contribute to the institution’s leap as a research body leading ‘K-Culture.’” He also appointed comedian-turned-director Seo Seung-man as CEO of the National Jeongdong Theater, calling him a “performance arts field expert who has directed madang plays and musicals.” The list of criticized appointments includes actor-turned-chairman Jang Dong-jik, who publicly supported the current president in the election and became chairman of the National Jeongdong Theater, and historian Jeon Woo-yong, who became head of the King Sejong Institute Foundation.

Artists’ criticism and backlash continue. In April, 748 performing artists jointly signed a statement titled “Field Artists Ask, Is There a Future for the Arts?” and held a public forum. That same month, the Cultural Solidarity, a representative progressive cultural movement group, held a press conference in front of Cheong Wa Dae condemning the Lee Jae Myung government’s cultural arts personnel policies. In June, National Ballet Company members issued an unprecedented statement titled “Statement from the Members Regarding the Appointment of the Director and Artistic Director of the National Ballet Company,” expressing concerns over a camp-affiliated figure being considered for the director role. The current statement by field artists and organizations specializing in children’s and youth performances marks the fourth collective action by artists responding to successive personnel disasters.

◇“Sending a Veterinarian to an Obstetrics Department… They Must Return”

The signatories of this statement include major associations such as the Korea Center of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ Korea) and the Korean Puppet Theater Association, as well as theater groups and individual artists—nearly all involved in the field. The anger stems from the disregard for the pride of field artists who have walked the difficult path of children’s and youth theater.

The very fact that the National Theater Company of Korea’s Children and Youth Theater Research Institute, after 15 years, became the National Theater Company for Young Audiences and appointed a non-specialist as its inaugural artistic director ignited outrage.

Kim Woo-ok, 92, the first director of the Korea National University of Arts’ Theater Department and the first signatory, said, “I have been involved in youth theater for over 40 years, but I had never heard of this person as an artistic director. He has no connection to children’s and youth theater. Tears welled up uncontrollably because it was so unfair that this field, to which I devoted my life, was treated with such neglect and disrespect in our country.” Kim, a pioneer of experimental theater, also revitalized youth theater with the Dongrang Youth Theater after studying at New York University and served as the second chairman of ASSITEJ Korea, earning respect in the field.

Bang Ji-young, current ASSITEJ Korea director, said, “Our children’s and youth theater is now gaining global attention beyond Asia. Recognizing this, the 2027 ASSITEJ World Congress was hosted in Korea. It is shameful and lamentable that the National Theater Company for Young Audiences, which should be busiest now, has a non-specialist artistic director.”

Kim Woo-ok added, “It is astonishing how they bypassed professionals and chose a complete outsider. It’s like sending a veterinarian to an obstetrics department when a specialist is needed. The wrongly appointed veterinarian must return to their place. How absurd and shameful it is to stubbornly insist on staying?”

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