Culture Ministry accepts resignation of MMCA director Youn Bum-mo

Youn Bum-mo's position as director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art has been terminated as of Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Tuesday that it has processed the resignation of Youn Bum-mo, the director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA).

Youn had submitted a letter of resignation to Culture Minister Park Bo-gyoon eight days prior, on April 10.

With the termination of Youn’s post, a locum tenens — Park Jong-dal, the head of the MMCA’s planning and organization team — will fill in until a new director is appointed.

The Ministry of Personnel Management is set to issue a public notice to appoint a new director. The director of the MMCA is a contracted high-ranking government official with a term of three years. The new director will begin his term on the first day of his appointment.

Youn, initially a progressive art critic and art history professor at Dongguk Univeristy, was first named the director of the museum in 2019.

At the time, the appointment caused a stir in the art scene as possible nepotism, due to Youn's liberal propensity and the fact that his assignment was made during former Moon Jae-in administration.

After a three-year term, Youn was reappointed in February 2022.

That October, the Culture Ministry conducted an audit in which it found 16 instances of illegal or unfair business practices.

Some of the instances directly pointed to Youn himself: The ministry noted that Youn had failed to file a report when the museum’s official YouTube channel was hacked last August and remained idle on claims that there had been cases of abuse of power among employees.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]