Culture minister calls rumors over next national ballet director 'groundless'

Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young has publicly rejected rumors over who will become the next director of the Korean National Ballet. In a series of posts on X, he called the speculation baseless and accused the press of fueling distrust.

The position has been vacant since Kang Sue-jin, an internationally renowned dancer who led the company for 12 years, stepped down in April.

As the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism began choosing her successor, rumors spread in parts of the dance world that a figure with no experience running a professional ballet company was in the running.

Chae rejected talk that a specific person had already been chosen.

"Strange false rumors are circulating over the selection of the Korean National Ballet's director," he wrote on X on Saturday. "Under the guise of 'speculation,' baseless rumors are being quietly treated as fact, and even the press has stepped in to stoke distrust."

"I make it clear that, on the candidate list I have been carefully reviewing as the appointing authority and culture minister, this person has never once appeared, from the beginning until now," Chae wrote.

"I am disclosing this in advance," he added, "in case the result, once announced, differs from the false rumors and people insist again that the candidate was 'withdrawn midway.'"

In a separate statement, the company's dancers insisted that the new leader should "understand" ballet.

"The position of director and artistic director leading the Korean National Ballet must be filled by someone who understands the company's work more deeply than anyone and will lead the future of Korean ballet," they wrote in a joint statement issued on Saturday.

The leader must know "how a professional ballet company's training system operates and how demanding it is to produce performances and manage a repertoire," they added.

"We are not doing this to unconditionally exclude or oppose any particular person," the dancers said.

"The next director and artistic director must understand how a professional ballet company's training system works and how intense the process of producing performances and managing a repertoire is. They must be a leader who has practical experience in dancers' growth and career management, sincerely respects the members' artistic capabilities, and can stably lead the company's internal order and creative environment."

Chae also urged the dancers not to worry.

"I ask the Korean National Ballet's dancers not to worry in the slightest and to focus on their performances," he wrote.

He closed with an old proverb, samin-seongho, literally meaning that "three people can make a tiger."

"No matter how absurd a claim is, if three people say the same thing, the listener comes to believe it is true."

He ended the post, "So what is this tiger doing in broad daylight?" and signed off with the hashtags "dumbfounded" and "groundless."

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]