LOS ANGELES:

The election of Moon Jae-in as the new president of South Korea heralds multiple changes for the cultural and entertainment industries. The country has the world’s 12th largest GDP and the sixth largest film industry.

A liberal and former human rights lawyer, Moon won a landslide 41% of Tuesday’s vote while his predecessor Park Geun-hye languishes in jail. She was impeached and stripped of her presidential immunity. She now faces criminal charges for corruption and abuse of power.

Moon, who was sworn in on Wednesday morning, says he will reverse policy in many of the areas where Park faces legal proceedings.

Supported by her collaborators including former culture minister Cho Yoon-sun and chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, Park was involved in blacklisting more than 9,000 anti-government culture industry figures. The blacklist was compiled to exclude artists and companies from state-controlled funding programs.

“The blacklist is a national violence (against art and artists) that infringed upon the fundamental basis of democracy,” Moon said in April.

Park’s abuses of power may have caused enduring damage to the workings of government in the arts sector, something that Moon says he will undo.

He wants the resignation of the heads of state organizations, such as the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), which played along with Park’s manipulations. It was recently revealed that the Korean Film Council attempted to twist public opinion by justifying drastic budget cuts to the troubled Busan festival in a newspaper column that it submitted anonymously. KOFIC chairman head Kim Sae-hoon is now on the point of resigning. (RTRS)

Zach