“After the projection ended, there was no external pressure …”

Jun-Yong Moon. [연합뉴스]

The controversy arose when it became known that Moon Joon-yong, the son of President Moon Jae-in, received a support fund of 14 million won through the Seoul City project ‘Support for Culture and Arts of the victims of the Crown 19 ‘. As a result of the argument that “I shouldn’t have applied for subsidies even for poor artists,” Moon said, “I can’t do anything because of Corona 19, and I’m trying to sell even a point with tears of blood.” Disproved.

In summary, JoongAng Ilbo’s coverage of Mr. Moon’s support of culture and the arts in Seoul was done through the selection of five external review members determined by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture. The Foundation and the judges said in the call that “there was no pressure during the review process.” However, Moon and others’ scorecard was not released for “confidentiality” reasons.

In April, the Seoul Metropolitan Government invested an additional 5 billion won budget to provide emergency assistance to the cultural and artistic community, which was damaged by the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19). The project was carried out by the Seoul Arts and Culture Foundation, an investment and sponsorship organization in Seoul. According to the announcement at the time, the recipients of the support are artists, art groups, planners, etc., who have been directly or indirectly damaged by Corona 19, and who are dedicated to the field of culture and the arts.

After submitting a request for support and a confirmation of damage, the support field was divided into nine areas: theater, children’s and youth dramas, dance, music and visuals. The results of the selection were released on April 29.

Mr. Moon requested the field of view with ‘Beyond the Gaze, the Exhibition between Somewhere’ and received a support of 14 million won. In the field of vision, 281 teams applied and 46 teams were selected, 10 teams received 6 to 13 million won, and 36 teams, including Moon, received the highest amount of 14 million won.

The foundation staff in charge of the project said: “If you receive the grant, you must publish the content online or offline by the end of January next year.”

The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture announced an emergency art support contest for Corona 19 damage in April. [사진 서울문화재단 홈페이지 캡처]

The evaluation was carried out in two stages. This is an expert selection in which the Seoul Arts and Culture Foundation staff fulfill the application requirements and score according to the review criteria. A foundation official explained: “From the foundation-owned pool of experts, 15 people were selected in consideration of occupational groups and careers, and then five committee members were randomly selected for each field using a random number generation program. “.

The visual field deliberation committee consisted of two independent curators, the director of the exhibition hall, the professor from the art department, and the curator of the corporate culture foundation. Member A, who participated in the exam, said in a phone call with JoongAng Ilbo on the 21st, “Due to Corona 19, the applicants’ documents were received through expedited service and reviewed.” Commissioner A also said, “I didn’t know that Moon Joon-yong was the president’s son.”

A foundation official said: “We sent five USB sticks to the judges to judge, and the scores from the scorecard were added together to determine disapproval.” Since there are more artists affected by Corona 19 than expected, the maximum support fund was reduced by 1 million won and the number of selected members has increased further, ”he said.

The selection criteria were the suitability and viability of the project (20%), the project execution capacity and execution capacity (60%), and the project’s performance and contribution (20%). Members of the deliberation committee also included member B, who was associated with Moon at the International Biennial of Media Art 8 years ago. In 2012, at the international biennial event where Commissioner B was the CEO, Moon presented media work using augmented reality (AR). Commissioner B said: “Since 2012, there hasn’t been a lot of traffic, and we are not particularly close,” and said: “If you think the artist is an independent person, it seems that applying to the endorsement industry will not be a problem unless let it be preferential treatment. ”

Regarding the evaluation process in April, Member B also said: “Of the 300 applicants at that time, there were quite a few acquaintances and Mr. Moon was not particularly notable.” He was tried with the same criteria as the applicant. ”

Jun-Yong Moon’s new work ‘Enhanced Shadow-Outside’ [사진 금산갤러리]

A foundation official said: “After the examination, there was such a story that ‘the president’s son requested it,’ but there should be no internal discussions about it. Jong-hui Kim, the representative of the Seoul Arts and Culture Foundation, also said, “There were no problems with the procedure.” However, the Foundation did not disclose the scorecards received by Mr. Moon at the time of the examination as “confidential”.

However, voices of criticism of the opposition emerged for the receipt of the grant. People’s Power Geun-sik Kim, Chairman of the Party Committee in Seoul, said in a Facebook post: “If you are the son of the current president, it is normal for you to give up your request for support to give other writers a chance, or give up on others even if you are selected for support through due process. He insisted.

Representative Kim Mi-ae posted a Facebook post that said, “There is no law restricting the application of Corona 19 subsidies to the president’s son, but shouldn’t we have to apply because of poor artists without parents?

[사진 문준용씨 페이스북 캡처]

As the controversy grew, Moon said on Facebook on the 21st, “The 14 million won for Corona 19 support is not money given to the artist as a profit, but money that the artist uses for exhibitions and productions.” It was presented in detail and judged appropriateness and selected me. ”

Moon also reiterated a post titled ‘Rebuttal to claim that an exhibition should not have been held in the city of Corona’, and said: “We are complying with quarantine guidelines.” “Not all artists do anything but only at home. It is? No one was invited. If step 3 (social distancing) is implemented, they are prepared to close the door immediately ”.

Regarding the timing of the exhibition, Dal-Sung Hwang, representative of the Geumsan Gallery in Hoehyeon-dong, Seoul, where Moon’s exhibition has been held since the 17th, explained, “It has been planned for a long time, and another exhibition it is scheduled for January next year. ”

Reporter Choi Eun-kyung [email protected]