Moon Jun-yong "Many Give Up on Subsidies... Living as the President's Son Is an Interesting Experience"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Moon Jun-yong (38), a media artist and son of President Moon Jae-in, has recently become the subject of controversy over whether he received preferential treatment after being awarded 69 million KRW in funding from the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (KACES). In response, Moon stated, "There was obviously no preferential treatment. Do not politically exploit the president's family without any basis," adding, "The attacks from politicians are only highlighting my skills as an artist."

In an interview with Kyunghyang Newspaper on the 25th, Moon said he anticipated this controversy, explaining, "As a media art artist, it was natural to apply for this funding, and it was worth enduring the controversy to do so." He added, "Being selected itself is a significant achievement and an honor."

Regarding the claim that "As the president's son, shouldn't you give up the funding to other struggling artists?" he responded, "The 'Art and Technology Convergence Support Project' funding from KACES is not intended to help economically disadvantaged people but to enable talented individuals to create better works." He further stated, "There are many funds I have given up on. Especially, I excluded from the start any funding meant to assist those in financial hardship."

He also explained why he personally announced the fact that he was selected for the funding: "I informed it first because if the fact that I received funding were revealed through other channels, politicians might misuse it."

Moon expressed frustration toward opposition lawmakers raising allegations of preferential treatment. He said, "Applying for artist funding is like an athlete in a sport without professional tournaments participating in a competition. Being selected itself is an important achievement, just like athletes receiving a championship trophy." He added, "My work is experimental art, and I mainly receive production costs from national and public art museums or funding like this to create my works." Therefore, he said, this project is "something that must be applied for."

When asked if he suffers any disadvantages from being the president's son, Moon replied, "There are both advantages and inconveniences." He explained, "The good thing is that the current political attacks against me have completely failed and have no political effect; rather, they only highlight my skills as an artist. It is known that I was selected for funding because of internationally recognized skills. The inconvenience is that I lose work time due to media interviews and social media."

When told, "Living as the president's child must be really tiring," he responded, "That's funny. I try to take it joyfully."

Earlier, Moon himself announced on his Facebook on the 18th that he had been selected as a recipient of funding from the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service's 'Art and Technology Convergence Support Project.' He said, "Art and technology convergence is a field I have worked in for a long time, so I applied with great care," adding, "Being chosen for this project is a great honor, and my profession is evaluated based on such achievements."

He continued, "It is something to be congratulated on and proud of, but I worry that some people might not see it that way," and said, "If there are opinions I need to respond to, I will."

In response, opposition lawmakers have raised 'preferential treatment' allegations. Bae Hyun-jin, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, criticized at the party's Supreme Council meeting on the 21st, saying, "The public's sense of deprivation and anger is tremendous," and "Everything Moon Jun-yong does is not being managed in terms of how it will be perceived by the public as the leader's son."

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