Democratic Party Members of Parliament from Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Urge Local Construction of the 'Lee Kun-hee Art Museum'

Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers from Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam held a press conference on the 8th at the National Assembly Communication Office urging the local establishment of the Lee Kun-hee Art Museum.
[Image source=Office of Assemblyman Kim Jeong-ho]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Seven members of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party representing the Bu-Ul-Gyeong region (Kim Doo-kwan, Kim Jeong-ho, Min Hong-chul, Park Jae-ho, Lee Sang-heon, Jeon Jae-soo, Choi In-ho) held a press conference on the 8th urging the establishment of the ‘Lee Kun-hee Art Museum’ in the Bu-Ul-Gyeong region to reduce regional disparities in culture and arts.

Recently, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee sparked public outrage among local residents with his media interview on May 24, stating that “the establishment of the Lee Kun-hee Art Museum in the metropolitan area is being seriously considered.”

The lawmakers said, “We could not help but feel dismayed by the unbelievable metropolitan-centric remarks from a current government cabinet member, who prioritizes local decentralization and national balanced development as key government agendas.”

They continued, “The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s push to build the Lee Kun-hee Art Museum in the metropolitan area will further fuel the overconcentration and overcrowding of culture and arts in the metropolitan area, expanding the cultural alienation and deprivation felt by local residents, and accelerating cultural imbalance and polarization.”

In a situation where polarization between the metropolitan area and local regions and the crisis of local extinction are intensifying, they also expressed their views on balanced development in the culture and arts sector.

They pointed out that non-metropolitan areas, especially the Bu-Ul-Gyeong region, have been neglected to the extent that they are considered the ‘last barren land’ even in the culture and arts sector, being the farthest from the metropolitan area.

They argued that from now on, the government must undertake a century-long plan to evenly distribute national cultural and artistic institutions (art museums, literary centers, theater companies, gugak centers, etc.) concentrated in the metropolitan area to local regions in order to realize practical cultural decentralization and balanced development.

The lawmakers appealed, taking this opportunity to improve the metropolitan area bias in the culture and arts sector and to build the art museum in the Bu-Ul-Gyeong region so that all citizens, including those in non-metropolitan areas, can enjoy culture and arts without discrimination and can view exhibitions locally.

Meanwhile, all current Bu-Ul-Gyeong National Assembly members, including Park Jae-ho, chairman of the Democratic Party Busan City Party, Lee Sang-heon, chairman of the Ulsan City Party, and Kim Jeong-ho, chairman of the Gyeongnam Provincial Party, participated in the press conference and expressed their views on behalf of city and provincial residents, stating, “Strengthening autonomy and decentralization in the culture and arts sector and enabling local residents to equally enjoy culture and arts are essential to achieving true national unity.”

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