Controversy Over 'President Idolization'... Chungbuk Province Removes President Yoon Photo Exhibition After One Day

"Unnecessary Controversy and Potential for Misunderstanding"

Chungcheongbuk-do held a photo exhibition of President Yoon Seok-yeol in the hallway of the government office building but removed it after a day due to controversy.

On the 1st, Chungbuk Province announced that it had canceled the one-year national administration photo exhibition scheduled to be held at the main government building. The province explained, "In celebration of the first year of the 8th elected administration, the event was prepared to review the provincial and national administration over the past year, but it was decided to cancel it following concerns that it might cause unnecessary controversy or misunderstandings among residents."

Exhibition space inside the Chungbuk Provincial Government Office building with photos related to President Yoon Seok-yeol removed.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Previously, on the afternoon of the day before, Chungbuk Province displayed 24 photos of President Yoon on the walls and stairways of the 1st and 2nd floors of the main government building. This space had been used as a 'hallway gallery' exhibiting works by local artists.

The province explained that the Presidential Office had expressed the intention to hold a photo exhibition related to the first anniversary of the inauguration, and thus the exhibition was scheduled to run until the 14th.

The exhibited photos included scenes of President Yoon and Chungbuk Governor Kim Young-hwan conversing during a visit to Cheongnamdae on February 14, exchanges among the G7 leaders of Korea, the US, and Japan, meetings with economic and religious sectors, and President Yoon’s official duties such as throwing the first pitch at a professional baseball game. Several daily life photos of President Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon-hee playing with their dog were also displayed.

However, once news of the exhibition spread, some civic groups criticized it as an excessive act of idolizing the president. As the controversy intensified, the province decided to remove the president’s photos after one day and continue the exhibition of works by local artists in the hallway gallery as before.

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