Moon Jun-yong wrote 4 lines and received 14 million won... Foundation says "For reference only"

Gwak Sang-do "President Moon's son Moon Jun-yong wrote 4 lines about the damage and received 14 million won"

President Moon Jae-in's son, Moon Jun-yong.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] It has been revealed that Moon Jun-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in, submitted a four-line damage confirmation letter when receiving 14 million KRW in support funds from the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture's 'COVID-19 Emergency Art Support Project' last year, sparking controversy. The foundation stated that there was no problem.

On the 9th, the foundation explained, "The damage confirmation letter submitted by the applying artist is a reference material to determine whether it is subject to the main review," and "the 'damage fact' is not included in the review criteria that decide support eligibility."

They added, "'The damage confirmation letter' is a reference material that only verifies the presence of damage regardless of the length or narrative format of the letter, and it only serves as a basis to identify whether the applicant is eligible for support."

They also explained that the review criteria for deciding support eligibility are threefold: ▲ appropriateness and validity of the project (20 points) ▲ project execution capability and performance ability (60 points) ▲ project outcomes and contribution (20 points), and that selection is based on these criteria.

Regarding Moon’s inclusion among the 36 recipients who received the maximum support amount of 14 million KRW, they stated, "At the time of announcement, the maximum support amount available in the visual arts field was 15 million KRW, but considering it was an emergency damage support project, the amount was uniformly adjusted to 14 million KRW so that more people could benefit, and if the requested support amount was less than this, the requested amount would be supported as decided by the review committee."

They continued, "Accordingly, applicants requesting 14 million KRW or more were uniformly granted 14 million KRW," and "Among the support recipients, 36 people (78%) received 14 million KRW, while 10 people (22%) requested less than 14 million KRW, such as 13 million KRW or 6 million KRW, and were supported with the requested amounts."

Damage Confirmation Statement written by Moon Jun-yong. Photo by Gwak Sang-do Office.

Earlier, the office of Kwon Sang-do, a member of the People Power Party, received the 'COVID-19 Emergency Damage Support Project Damage Confirmation Letters' from the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and conducted a full survey, revealing that 46 people received the 'COVID Damage Emergency Art Support.'

According to Representative Kwon, there were 281 applicants at the time, resulting in a 6 to 1 competition ratio, and Moon scored 85.33 points, ranking 34th and qualifying for support.

Among the remaining 235 applicants, 91.4% (215 people) wrote more detailed damage descriptions than Moon but were rejected. In particular, some of the rejected applicants included detailed damage descriptions such as graphs showing sales decrease compared to the previous year in their damage confirmation letters.

Moon’s damage confirmation letter submitted to the foundation stated, "So far, a total of three exhibitions have been canceled, and it is expected that several other exhibitions planned for this year will be postponed or canceled, creating ongoing uncertainty," "Especially, the Asia Hotel Art Fair scheduled for February was canceled just one week prior, causing significant losses," and "Opportunities to sell artworks have been lost, and it is impossible to recover production costs for several works created for the canceled exhibitions."

Regarding this, Representative Kwon criticized, "Small-scale artists in dire straits must have written their damage facts densely, revised and revised again," and "They could not compete with the president’s son’s 'four-line summary.'"

Previously, Moon denied allegations of preferential treatment regarding his support funds, stating, "If I receive support funds and hold exhibitions, the small-scale artists who canceled contracts will be paid," and "My works have been recognized even before I was the president’s son."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.