Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young drew attention on the 6th by personally rebutting speculation over the appointment of a new director of the Korean National Ballet, saying "absurd rumors are circulating." This appears to mark a shift from a defensive stance to one of active rebuttal and clarification regarding personnel controversies over some agency heads that have been raised in the cultural and arts community.
Earlier that day, members of the Korean National Ballet issued a statement demanding a fair selection process for the company's next director. The statement is understood to have been prompted by rumors circulating in the dance community that a particular figure from the dance world had been chosen for the post. It is unusual for members of a state-run arts organization operated with government funds to issue such a statement.
In the "Members' Statement on the Appointment of the Korean National Ballet Director and Artistic Director," released that day under the name of all the company's members, they said, "The position of Korean National Ballet director and artistic director must be filled by someone who understands the realities of the company more deeply than anyone and can lead the future of Korean ballet." They added, "The person must know how a professional ballet company's training system works and how intense the performance production process and repertoire management are."
The statement also stressed, "This is not to unconditionally exclude or oppose any particular individual," adding, "(The next director) must be a leader with practical experience in the growth and career management of dancers, who respects the artistic capabilities of the members and can stably lead the company's internal order and creative environment."
The post of Korean National Ballet director has been vacant since former director Kang Sue-jin, who served for 12 years, stepped down this past April. As the Culture Ministry began the work of selecting a successor, unconfirmed rumors spread in the dance community that someone with no experience running a ballet company had been chosen as the next director.
Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young criticized this "ballet director appointment rumor" as fake news and moved quickly to quell it. Through his social media that day, he said, "Absurd rumors are circulating that an elderly university professor of dance, who worked in the Lee Jae-myung campaign and has no professional ballet company experience, will be appointed as Korean National Ballet director." He drew a line, stating, "I clearly state that such a person has never once been on the candidate list under careful consideration by the Culture Minister, who holds the appointment authority, from the beginning until now."
He continued, "During personnel decisions, all sorts of rumors and speculation always run rampant, but this time it has gone too far. I am disclosing this in advance in case, when the selection result is later announced and differs from the rumors, someone again insists that 'it was withdrawn midway.'" He urged, "I hope the Korean National Ballet members will not worry at all and devote themselves to their performances."
Minister Choi has repeatedly offered explanations regarding earlier personnel controversies over agency heads, such as those at the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute and the National Jeongdong Theater. At the "Culture Ministry Minister's Press Conference Marking the First Anniversary of the People's Sovereignty Government" on the 28th of last month, he said, "As a minister responsible not only for personnel but also for management, I will pull things together and take care of them so that these can faithfully serve as the institutions the public expects, and I will lead the way."
Nevertheless, with another agency-head personnel controversy erupting just as the government entered its second year, this is interpreted as Choi taking an active clarification stance from the outset this time. That day, Choi also shared an article by a conservative media outlet that had given prominent coverage to the appointment rumor. The Korean National Ballet is one of the state arts organizations under discussion for relocation to a provincial area.
