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| Seen is a satirical artwork featuring President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee, which was removed by a National Assembly secretariat from the Members' Office Building lobby, Monday. Courtesy of the exhibition's organizing committee |
By Lee Hae-rin
The National Assembly secretariat's disapproval of an exhibition featuring satirical works about President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee at the National Assembly Members' Office Building has ignited a debate about freedom of expression.
The planned exhibition, hosted jointly by the Seoul branch of the Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organization of Korea (FAC), a progressive artist group, as well as 10 main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers and two independent lawmakers, was scheduled to be held from Monday to Friday. Some 80 pieces by 30 artists were scheduled to be showcased.
Among the featured art pieces was one where a shirtless Yoon brandishes a sword in front of his wife, towering over a cityscape.
Another one was a parody of the 2022 Korean film "Decision to Leave," dubbed as "Decision to Embezzle" ― mocking a private contract for the presidential office and a construction of a residence. The art piece contains Yoon, the first lady and Lee Byung-chul, a YouTuber and Taoist guru more widely known by his pseudonym Chun-gong, who is suspected of being the presidential couple's go-to adviser.
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| Seen is another artwork removed from the planned exhibition at the National Assembly this week, which parodies the 2022 Korean film "Decision to Leave." Dubbed "Decision to Embezzle," the picture features President Yoon Suk Yeol, first lady Kim Keon Hee and Taoist guru Lee Byung-chul. Screenshot from the artist's Instagram |
On Sunday at around 7 p.m., the secretariat sent official letters three times ― requesting the voluntary removal of the exhibition ― to the office of nonpartisan Rep. Min Hyung-bae, who is one of the event's sponsoring lawmakers.
The secretariat's request was based on National Assembly regulations on the use of the building lobby, in which it is stated that "an event or a conference that slanders a particular person or organization and thereby is considered to possibly infringe others' rights, public etiquette and social ethics" could be banned from the space.
As the lawmaker's office did not respond to the request immediately, the secretariat took down the exhibition later that night.
Some of the artists who organized this exhibition had held a similar exhibition at the Assembly building previously in January 2017, during which they came under fire for displaying art that parodied French impressionist painter Edouard Manet's "Olympia" and featured former President Park Geun-hye sleeping naked while the Sewol ferry sinks in the background.
That exhibition became embroiled in a controversy over freedom of expression, defamation and sexual objectification of a female head of state and was closed down. DPK Rep. Pyo Chang-won who had sponsored the event was suspended for six months after an ethics committee hearing.
The artists and the 12 legislative sponsors held a press conference on Monday, during which they strongly condemned the secretariat for violating freedom of expression with its "hasty self-censorship" and demanded the National Assembly speaker order its restoration.
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| Main opposition and nonpartisan lawmakers and officials from an organizing committee that had prepared an exhibition featuring political satirical works hold a press conference at the National Assembly, Monday, condemning the secretariat's decision to remove the exhibition. Yonhap |
National Assembly Secretary General Lee Kwang-jae told reporters on Monday morning that "freedom of expression is a fundamental constitutional right," but the timing of the exhibition was inappropriate and there was a consensus among lawmakers to hold the exhibition after closing an Assembly special investigation into the Itaewon tragedy.
Meanwhile, members of the conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP) said they were in "shock and dismay" and condemned the main opposition lawmakers.
PPP senior spokesperson Rep. Park Jeong-ha criticized the DPK lawmakers on Monday and said that "the removed exhibition went beyond the level of political satire" and called it a "personal attack against a head of state."
This is not the first time that political satire of Yoon and the first lady has led to a debate on freedom of expression. Last October, a high schooler became a national sensation for winning an art contest with an image titled 'Yoonsukyeolcha," featuring a train similar to Thomas the Tank Engine with Yoon's face on it, and also featuring a character resembling the first lady in the engine room. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a warning to the contest's organizing agency and claimed that it had "politically contaminated" the contest.
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