Ex-minister jailed over artist blacklist
SEOUL: A South Korean appeals court yesterday jailed former culture minister Cho Yoon-Sun ( pix) for two years for her role in drawing up a blacklist of 10,000 artists seen as critical of ousted president Park Geun-Hye’s government.
Cho had initially been acquitted in July and given only a suspended sentence on a minor related charge, prompting prosecutors to appeal.
The higher court in Seoul also extended the prison term of Park’s ex-chief of staff Kim Ki-Choon from three years to four.
Cho was a policy adviser to Park before becoming the culture minister in 2016, and the court said it was “reasonable” to believe she had collaborated in “attempts to stop state support for certain artists”.
“It cannot be believed that the discussion and decision to stop state subsidies were made without the order or endorsement of the accused,” the court said in a statement.
Cho, who had been on bail, was immediately arrested in the courtroom.
The blacklist, whose existence emerged in 2016, was aimed at starving artists of state subsidies and private funding and placing them under state surveillance. Many had voiced support for opposition parties, or had criticised Park or her late dictator father, Park Chung-Hee.
The list, including artists in film, theatre, dance, music, fine arts and literature, reads like a Who’s Who of Seoul’s art scene.
It includes novelist Han Kang, winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, and film director Park Chan-Wook, whose Oldboy took the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004.
Park was impeached last year over a corruption and influence-peddling scandal, and is currently on trial separately.
Yesterday, the appeals court also found Kim guilty of forcing senior culture ministry officials to resign for voicing opposition to the blacklist – a charge earlier rejected by the lower court.
Another former culture minister, a former deputy culture minister and two other ex-advisers to Park were given jail terms ranging from 18 months to two years for their roles in the blacklist. – AFP