The Korea National Academy of Arts, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, elected a total of seven new members across five fields — literature, fine arts, music, theater and film — and selected recipients of its Academy Awards and Young Artist Awards through a resolution at its 77th general assembly Wednesday.
This year's new members include novelist Lee Seung-u; Ha Chong-hyun, painter and honorary professor at Hongik University's College of Fine Arts and former director of the Seoul Museum of Art; Won Mun-ja, painter and honorary professor at Ewha Womans University; Song Soo-ryun, painter and honorary professor at Chung-Ang University; Lim Jae-won, daegeum performer and honorary professor at Seoul National University and former director of the National Gugak Center; theater critic Yoo Min-young; and film director Bae Chang-ho. With these elections, the academy's membership has risen to a total of 83.
The general assembly also selected the recipients of the 71st Korea National Academy of Arts Awards. In the literature category, novelist Lee Dong-ha was chosen; in the music category, pianist Kim Dae-jin, former president of the Korea National University of Arts; and in the theater category, stage director Kim Do-hoon. For the 5th Korea National Academy of Arts Young Artist Awards, the recipients are novelist Choi Eun-young in literature, artist Kim Min-ae in fine arts, composer Kim Shin and daegeum performer Yoo Kyung-eun in music, stage director Kim Soo-jung in theater, director Yoon Ga-eun in film, and dancer Hong Kyung-hwa in dance.
Established in 1954, the Korea National Academy of Arts is an institution that, under relevant law, honors and supports artists who have made remarkable contributions to artistic creation. For artists with at least 30 years of artistic experience, existing members independently elect new members in the fields of literature, fine arts, music, theater, film and dance, based on recommendations from about 230 culture and arts institutions and organizations nationwide and from university presidents. The academy's membership cap is 100, but the full quota is rarely filled.
Since 1955, the academy has annually presented the Academy Awards (with a prize of 50 million won) to artists who have made remarkable contributions to the development of the arts through outstanding creative activity in fields including literature, fine arts, music, theater, film and dance, based on recommendations from about 230 arts-related institutions and organizations. Since 2022, it has also presented the Korea National Academy of Arts Young Artist Awards (with a prize of 25 million won) to artists aged 45 or younger (40 or younger in the music field), in order to identify promising young artists and encourage their creative ambition.
The awards ceremony for the Academy Awards and the Young Artist Awards is scheduled to be held on September 7.
