MMCA director responds to audit results of unfair business practices

Youn Bum-mo, the director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), expressed his thoughts on the results of the museum's audit on Tuesday during a press conference at the museum’s Seoul branch in Jung District, central Seoul...

Youn Bum-mo, the director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, expressed his thoughts on the museum’s audit results on Tuesday during a press conference at the museum’s Seoul branch in Jung District, central Seoul. The results had been announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Monday. [YONHAP]

Youn Bum-mo, the director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), expressed his thoughts on the results of the museum's audit on Tuesday during a press conference at the museum’s Seoul branch in Jung District, central Seoul.

“It’s a shame,” Youn said. “I’ll think of it as a whip and encouragement to work harder. To be honest, I haven’t been able to fully grasp the results of the audit. I read about it first through the media.”

On Monday, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it found 16 instances of illegal or unfair businesses through a special audit conducted on the MMCA late last year.

The shady business practice included not complying with the rules for purchasing artworks and using government money to pay the museum employees. 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.

“I can’t talk about the audit in detail,” Youn said in response to reporters’ questions. “All I can say is that each division has started reviewing the results. We’ll make sure to improve the things that need improvement and request a reevaluation if needed.”

When asked for his opinion on the conflicts among the museum employees, Youn said that he would “do [his] best to create an art museum that is disassociated from misuse of power.”

As for the audit results stating that the MMCA disregarded experts’ advice on the appropriate purchasing price for artworks, Youn said that if there is “too much of a discrepancy [in the estimated value and the selling price], the deal tends to go off,” and that he was “surprised, because we never ended up buying Teresita Fernandez’s ‘Dark Earth (Cosmos)’ [2019].”

The ministry said that the estimated value of “Dark Earth (Cosmos)” had been adjusted up to 50 million won ($40,150), higher than that advised by the experts.

The MMCA’s head curator spot has also been vacant for months, even though a nominee has been chosen.

“The head curator is decided through a contest, not an in-house promotion,” Youn said. “I have no authority over their hire, but I expect it to be finalized soon.”

As for the late video artist Nam June Paik’s “The More, The Better” (1988), Youn said it is “in the process of repair,” assuring that there need be no worries concerning its preservation.

The same day, Youn explained the MMCA’s exhibition plans for 2023, which include a retrospective of the famous modern artist Chang Ucchin (1917-1990) and a solo exhibition of 86-year-old avant-garde artist Kim Kulim. Another will be dedicated to Dongsanbang Hwarang gallery’s founder Park Joo-hwan’s donated art collection.

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