Yoo Hong-june, director of the National Museum of Korea, bowed his head when asked why he had not disclosed in advance that he owned a piece of calligraphy that the museum had exhibited as the work of an independence patriot but was later found to have been written by a pro-Japanese collaborator. "At the time, as an art historian, I felt ashamed and hoped it would simply pass," Yoo said. He nonetheless rejected calls from some opposition lawmakers, who cited a conflict-of-interest violation by a public official, to step down, saying he would "work to restore the museum's honor, taking this incident as a lesson."
Yoo made the remarks on the 19th at a National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee audit of culture and arts institutions under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, responding to a question from Rep. Cho Kye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, who asked him to explain the circumstances surrounding the ink calligraphy reading "Ilbansigugeun," or "Even a single bowl of rice is a gift of the nation."
"I did not reveal the owner when the work was first presented as a piece by the patriot Park Won-geun because I was worried it would look like I was boasting," he said. "Later, when it turned out to be the work of the pro-Japanese collaborator Park Choong-yang, I felt ashamed of my mistake as an art historian and hoped it would simply pass."
"When the audit questionnaire arrived, I answered that I was the owner and intended to explain it during the audit. But a news report came out first," he added. "I am ashamed and deeply repentant. I fully accept responsibility. No apology can be enough. I will take this as a cautionary lesson and make sure it does not happen again."
"In 'Resurrection,' Tolstoy wrote that love and pride become memories as the years pass, but mistakes and guilt remain in the present tense," Yoo said. "I will take this as a lesson and work to restore the museum's honor."
Asked by Rep. Kim Seung-soo of the People Power Party whether the work had undergone a separate authentication, Yoo said, "I specialize in the history of calligraphy myself, so I was convinced it was the work of the patriot Park Won-geun." In practice, there is effectively no researcher inside the National Museum of Korea whose expertise exceeds Yoo's in that field.
The phrase "Ilbansigugeun" means that even a single bowl of rice is a gift of the nation, and is attributed to the monk Yeonggyu, who led a militia during the Japanese invasions of 1592. Several people wrote out the phrase in calligraphy, and at a special exhibition titled "Our Table" in July, the National Museum of Korea presented the piece as the work of the patriot Park Won-geun (1912-1950), based on a signature reading "Park Won-geun, a Korean." An outside tip then raised the possibility that Park Won-geun was another name used by Park Choong-yang (1874-1959), who has been designated a pro-Japanese collaborator, and the piece was removed. Expert consultation later confirmed it as Park Choong-yang's work.
Explaining how he acquired the piece, Yoo said, "I bought it at an online auction in 2019 for 50,000 won. The bidding started at 10,000 won, I bid 300,000 won, and it went to me for 50,000 won." At the time, the auction described the piece as the work of Park Deok-won, a member of a Joseon-era diplomatic mission to Japan, but Yoo judged it to be the writing of the patriot Park Won-geun and said he informed the auction house of that.
On how the piece came to be included in the "Our Table" special exhibition, he said, "The exhibition had been planned two years before I took office. The planning team was looking for works that could convey the theme of 'Our Table,' and they suggested using the monk Yeonggyu's words, and I happened to own that piece. Otherwise, the exhibition would have used a separate panel."
Asked whether putting the piece on display amounted to "laundering" to raise the value of his personal holdings, Yoo said, "That work was already slated to be donated to the Buyeo Cultural Center. I signed an agreement with Buyeo County in 2016 and have already donated 865 works valued at 2.7 billion won for the county's plan to build a county art museum, and I decided to donate both of my pieces that appeared in the 'Our Table' exhibition, including this one." He added, "So it makes no sense to say I exhibited it to raise its price."
On that point, Yoo said he had even written the character for "on behalf of" before his name on the consent form for the special exhibition, indicating a proxy signature. That meant the next owner had already been determined, he said, citing it as grounds that the work was not displayed to raise the value of a personal holding.
He did acknowledge, however, that the museum's verification procedures for items in special exhibitions had been inadequate. Lawmakers from both the governing and opposition parties asked whether the work had been given a "free pass" in the exhibition process because it belonged to the museum's director, and Yoo did not deny it. "Verification of exhibition pieces is handled by the curatorial office for permanent exhibitions and by the planning team for special exhibitions," he said. "This time the planning team proposed using my work."
He also said, "The national museum currently has 215 specialists in curatorial fields, but none of them specialize in modern and contemporary history from the Japanese colonial period onward, and only one specializes in calligraphy." He added, "Until now we have limited our collection to the Korean Empire period. We tried to extend it into the colonial period but could not, and we had not secured specialized staff either. We plan to strengthen that going forward."
Before his briefing at the audit that day, Yoo bowed twice in apology to the public, to the patriot Park Won-geun and his surviving family, and to museum staff, and repeated apologies throughout the audit. Since the case surfaced in August, Yoo has issued public apologies five times through that day.
Yoo expressed gratitude to the person who tipped off the possibility that the calligraphy was Park Choong-yang's, adding, "If not for that person, the work would still be passing as a piece by the patriot Park Won-geun." Of his donation to Buyeo County, he also said, "I donated it without telling my wife, so I ended up facing a household audit."
Rep. Cho Kye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, referring to opposition lawmakers who had focused on the collaborator's calligraphy, said, "Watching today's audit, even a People Power Party lawmaker said pro-Japanese historiography must be firmly excluded. I think this has created a blessing in disguise" for clearing pro-Japanese legacies from the cultural sector.
Separately, on the controversy over whether museum rules were violated in the case of a "stone tiger" donated to the National Museum of Korea by his wife and now displayed on the stairs of the museum's open plaza, Yoo said, "A lot of false information has circulated and I am being misunderstood. After the animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters' became popular, the museum had no tiger artifacts, so it asked for a donation and I donated it." He added, "Is donating a crime?"