South Korea to boost cultural facilities despite economic troubles: culture minister

By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- When a government official opens an interview with a
reference to a Tolstoy novella you can be sure you're talking to the culture
minister.
Actor-turned-Cabinet member Yu In-chon, believes that the cultural
infrastructure of South Korea needs to be boosted further at a time of economic
instability, and has a convincing anecdote involving the great Russian novelist
to back up his case.
"I have an experience that relates to this difficult economic situation," Yu
explains in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency.
"A couple of years after the financial crisis gripped the country in 1997, I
staged Tolstoy's 'Kholstomer: The Story of a Horse,'" he says thoughtfully.
"After the performance, I received a letter from someone claiming to be a small
business owner in his 30s. He said that the failure of his business had driven
him to despair, even to contemplate suicide. But he wrote that after seeing the
play he had changed his mind," Yu explains. "This event truly made my acting
career feel worthwhile."
The didactic novella recounts the altruistic life of a horse, in a figurative
depiction of the wretched life Russian peasants were facing in the late 1880s.
"One role of art is to reflect society; to enable people to look back on their
past and look forward to their future, to let them have hopes. It can affect the
economy positively, even if you can't see its immediate effects," he said.
Yu, a 57-year-old, was formerly a top TV actor as well as arts professor at his
alma mater Chung-Ang University. He founded drama company "Yu" in 1995 and has
engaged in arts-related public activities. Now one of his roles as culture
minister is to foster the arts more broadly across the nation.
The South Korean government is keen to encourage cultural development in local
areas, Yu said, adding that such development ties in with the national endeavor
to promote tourism.
"Cultural infrastructure is closely linked with tourism," Yu said. "Our culture
policies look ahead three years from now. I am not sure how long I will be
staying in the cabinet, but we are preparing in advance for what would come."
He stressed that artists involved in the less commercialized art activities are
in need of inexpensive facilities where they can perform.
"We can refer to films as part of a 'business', as most people pay money to go to
movies," Yu said.
"However, other areas, such as theatrical performance, dance, classical music and
traditional Korean music, the majority of them -- seven out of every then --
still go there on invitational tickets. That is why we cannot call them
'businesses.' That is why the government needs to support them, regardless of the
box-office value."
Regarding the recent debate over a feud between a popular female singer and an
arts performance complex, Yu said that the government is to set up the different
facilities for the performers of different genres.
The Seoul Art Center (SAC) has recently rejected for the second time the request
of Insooni, Korea's long-loved diva known for her fiery passion and throaty
voice, to allow her to hold an opera house there. Insooni claimed that the SAC
discriminates against popular culture.
"I, myself, also come from the popular culture background. I don't think the SAC
is discriminatory. It is just that the function of each facility needs to
clarified," Yu said.
"The government has been setting up different halls aimed at showing different
genres -- traditional performance, dance performance, experimental performance
and theatrical performance. The reason we have set up these facilities is that
private enterprises would not build them due to their perceived lack of
commercial appeal."
"We are now set to renovate an existing facility to build something like a 'Hall
of Fame' for long-contributing popular entertainers," Yu said.
Commenting on an controversial incident centering around his language at a
parliamentary hearing last month, he expressed his regret once again.
"I have no excuse for what I said," he said.
Yu shouted exasperatedly at news photographers "Stop taking damn pictures," after
losing his temper when an opposition lawmaker called him as "a button man" to
President Lee Myung-bak. He soon officially apologized for his behavior.
"No disrespect was intended. It was an accidental expression of human feelings,"
he said.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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