BUSAN — Park Heong-joon, the former mayor of Busan, sharply criticized the city's decision to scrap plans for a Busan branch of the Centre Pompidou and an invitational performance by Italy's La Scala at the Busan Opera House, saying "there is no future for Busan in overturning things." He issued a statement on the afternoon of the 14th, the day Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo announced the halt to both projects, arguing that the decision was skewed toward differentiating the current administration from its predecessor.
"A city's competitiveness is built up through long-term investment and policy consistency," Park said. "In many places, the city government is finding its sense of presence in dismantling what has already been built rather than in creating something new." He added that it reflects "a political temptation to stage change by scrapping the previous administration's projects rather than being judged by citizens on a new vision and new results."
Jeon announced the same day that both the Centre Pompidou branch and the La Scala invitational performance would be shelved. For the Pompidou project, the city cited concerns over environmental damage at the Igidae site, contract terms that would make it difficult to adequately guarantee Busan's rights and public interest, uncertainty over the long-term fiscal burden, and a lack of plans for shared growth with the local arts community. A project feasibility study estimated that about 110 billion won ($77 million) in city funds would be needed for construction and about 12.5 billion won ($8.8 million) a year for operations, but the city noted that a majority view within its policy review panel held that the credibility of the economic feasibility analysis and the sustainability of the finances needed to be reexamined.
For the La Scala performance, the city said it had originally planned to cover 40% to 50% of the 10 billion won ($7 million) budget through corporate donations and sponsorships, but had fallen short of that target by the time budget preparations were due. The city also said plans for participation by local artists and for education and talent development had not been fleshed out, and that sufficient time was needed to prepare for the opening, including stage and acoustic inspections, test runs and trial performances at the opera house.
Park countered that the site designated for the Pompidou branch was not forest but already-developed vacant land, and that the distinctive character of the Igidae location had worked in Busan's favor during the bid process. He also said the project had drawn support from more than 60% of respondents in a survey of residents. On the La Scala partnership, he said it was a strategy to build the Busan Opera House into a world-class venue together with conductor Chung Myung-whun, adding that "a considerable amount in donations has already been raised, laying the groundwork to reduce the fiscal burden." That assessment diverges from the city's account of whether sponsorship targets had been met.
As an alternative to the Pompidou branch, Jeon said the city would strengthen the exhibition, research and collection capabilities of the municipal art museums in eastern and western Busan and expand exchanges with overseas museums. The city is also pursuing a plan to build a 5,000-square-meter multipurpose cultural exhibition space at the North Port, funded entirely by the central government. For the opera house, the city plans to prepare an opening festival with local artists ahead of a formal opening in 2028, and to revisit invitations to world-class productions such as La Scala once operations have stabilized.
Park criticized that alternative, saying that "raising the qualitative level of the municipal art museum and the contemporary art museum was already a policy priority under the previous administration" and calling it "not an alternative but complacency." He urged the city to present concrete content and a growth plan to replace its tourism and culture strategy.
He also took issue with the city's scrapping of its 15-minute city policy and the dismantling of its design bureau. The 15-minute city is a strategy for restructuring the urban fabric so that residents can access culture, education, care services and leisure within their neighborhoods, he argued, while design administration provides the operational foundation to support the 2028 World Design Capital project. "If existing policies are to be scrapped, the reasons and the evidence must be explained transparently to citizens, and a better alternative must be presented," Park said.
Park stressed policy continuity, citing his own decision upon taking office in 2021 to carry on the Dongbaekjeon local currency program and the bid to host the 2030 Busan World Expo from the administration of his predecessor, Oh Keo-don. "Respecting continuity in city administration is not something done for the sake of a former mayor but a matter of respecting the time citizens have invested and their investment in the future," he said. "A mayor is not someone who erases the past but someone who builds the future."
Jeon's position is that the decision was reached by weighing public deliberation over the Pompidou project, the views of the policy review panel and the cultural cooperation committee, and environmental and fiscal conditions. On the La Scala performance, he said the city would set aside the current plan in light of the opera house's opening preparations and its funding situation, but would revisit invitations to world-class productions once operations stabilize. The dispute over the signature cultural projects of the previous administration is expected to continue over questions of policy continuity, project feasibility and the specificity of the alternatives.