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National Museum of Korea names new director as part of post-election reshuffle

President Lee Jae Myung’s victory in June has been followed by homecomings for two high-profile arts figures in the country, while the Busan Biennale has also announced its curators for 2026

Lisa Movius
24 July 2025
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You Hong-jun is well known for his bestselling book series My Exploration of Cultural Heritage, started in 1993, and has also written children’s books about the museum he now directs

Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

You Hong-jun is well known for his bestselling book series My Exploration of Cultural Heritage, started in 1993, and has also written children’s books about the museum he now directs

Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

The beloved Myongji University art historian and author You Hong-jun has been appointed the new director of the National Museum of Korea and its 13 provincial affiliates. He is among several leading South Korean art appointments unveiled recently: the Gwangju Biennale Foundation on 17 July revealed that its new president will be critic and curator Youn Bummo.

The Busan Biennale, meanwhile, has announced that its 2026 edition will be organised by curatorial duo Amal Khalaf and Evelyn Simons, whose show will focus on themes of resistance, healing, hope and collective lament. They are the first female duo to curate the show.

Amal Khalaf and Evelyn Simons will co-curate the 2026 Busan Biennale

Khalaf: Photo: Christa Holka. Simons: Photo: Sander Houthuys

Government-backed art institutions in Korea regularly change their leadership after power shifts at a national level, and the latest appointments come on the heels of Lee Jae Myung victory at June’s snap presidential election, which saw his more liberal-leaning Democratic Party return to power. The defeated, incumbent People Power Party’s leader Yoon Suk-Yeol was impeached this April after a failed declaration of martial law last December.

You worked for Lee’s unsuccessful 2022 campaign, chairing a committee on Korean culture. He previously served in government from 2004 to 2008 as the commissioner of the Cultural Heritage Administration, since renamed the Korea Heritage Service, but resigned following an arson attack on the heritage site Sungnyemun Gate.

He is a familiar name in Korea for his bestselling book series My Exploration of Cultural Heritage, started in 1993, introducing Korean as well as Japanese and Chinese history. He worked on another series, the six volume Story of Korean Art, from 2010 to 2023, and has also published several children’s books about the National Museum of Korea that he will now head.

Youn, a specialist in the Minjung Misul, or “People’s Art”, which arose out of South Korea’s democratisation in the 1980s, stepped down from leadership of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) shortly after the 2022 election.

The Gwangju Biennale Foundation’s new president Youn Bummo is an experienced critic, author and curator

Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale Foundation

Youn Bummo also started out as an art critic in 1982 for the newspaper Dong-A Ilbo. He has published dozens of books and worked for prominent art institutions including the Leeum Museum of Art, then called the Hoam Museum of Art. He curated a special exhibition at the inaugural Gwangju Biennale in 1995, and sat on the executive committee. Youn returned in 2014 to curate another special exhibition for the tenth edition of the biennale, commemorating the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju.

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