Another Controversy Over Special Treatment for Artist Moon Jun-yong... Moon "Distrust Is Unfounded" vs Opposition "Special Treatment in Face-to-Face Interview"

President's Son, Artist Moon Jun-yong, Selected for 69 Million KRW Grant by Arts Council
Following Last Year's COVID-19 Art Support Project, Another Favoritism Controversy Arises
Baek Hyun-jin: "Did the Judges Evaluate Fairly Without Pressure..."
Moon: "Would They Choose Me Without Talent Just Because I'm the President's Son? Unfounded Distrust Is Being Spread"
Minister Hwang Hee: "Arts Council Operates Independently Due to Past Blacklist Issues, No Ministry Interference"

Moon Jun-yong, media art artist and son of President Moon Jae-in.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The controversy over preferential treatment in art support funds for Moon Joon-yong, the son of President Moon Jae-in, has flared up again in the political arena. This is the second controversy following last year's opposition party's allegations of favoritism after Moon applied for and received support funds from the Seoul City COVID-19 Emergency Art Support Project.

On the 18th, Moon posted on his Facebook that he was selected to receive 69 million won in support from the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service's Art and Technology Convergence Support Project. Moon expressed his joy, saying, "Art and technology convergence is a field I have worked in for a long time, so I put my heart and soul into applying," and "Being selected for this project is a great honor, and my profession is evaluated based on such achievements."

He added, "Out of 102 applicants, 15 were selected with amounts similar to mine. (In total) 24 projects were selected," and said, "This is something to be congratulated and proud of, but I am worried that some might not see it that way. If there are opinions I need to respond to, I will."

Moon's detailed disclosure of this matter is interpreted as being mindful of the political disputes that arose last December over receiving emergency art support funds due to COVID-19 damage. At that time, Moon received 14 million won through the project.

Baek Hyun-jin, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 14th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The opposition party raised doubts about the fairness of the selection process. Bae Hyun-jin, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, referred to data submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 21st, saying, "Moon had an in-person interview during the screening process."

Supreme Council member Bae said, "As Moon stated, out of 102 applicants, 33 were confirmed for the second interview," and "Among them, 30 had a 15-minute online video interview," adding, "The judges here are people from the private cultural and artistic sectors, such as general company managers, cultural foundation producers, and research institute standing committee members. The public will wonder whether they conducted the evaluation fairly without any pressure."

A post by artist Moon Jun-yong on his Facebook on the 21st. Photo by Moon, artist, Facebook capture.

In response to the opposition's allegations, Moon rebutted through Facebook on the same day. He said, "If Councilor Bae were judging, would she select me just because I am the president's son? Even if I had no skills?" and "If I were scored abnormally high, wouldn't the other judges notice?"

In another post on the same day, he also sharply criticized, "Why do you keep baselessly fostering such distrust?"

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee is attending the full meeting of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held at the National Assembly on the 21st, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

As the dispute continued, the government stated that procedures were properly followed. Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said at the plenary session of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee that day regarding the allegations raised by Councilor Bae, "The Arts Council is a place where a blacklist occurred during the Park Geun-hye administration, so the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide support but pledged not to interfere."

He continued, "Of course, it is necessary to verify whether the process was conducted fairly," and asked, "Just because someone is the president's son, does that mean an artist engaged in creative activities has to rest for five years? Then should the children of lawmakers or high-ranking officials not do anything either?"

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