Theater community demands withdrawal of first artistic director appointment at National Children and Youth Theater

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has appointed Eo Yeon-seon, former head of the Gwangmyeong Culture Foundation, as the inaugural director of the newly established National Children and Youth Theater, drawing fierce backlash from the performing arts community, which is demanding the appointment be rescinded. Critics say the selection ignores 15 years of accumulated field experience and the genre's distinct characteristics, calling it an "appointment devoid of expertise."

Eight major performing arts associations — including Assitej Korea (the Korean branch of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People), the Korea Puppet Theater Association and the Korea Playwrights Association — along with 332 individual artists and organizations (200 individuals and 132 groups) issued a joint statement Monday calling for the "immediate withdrawal of the appointment of the inaugural director and artistic director of the National Children and Youth Theater."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had announced Friday that it was appointing Eo to the three-year post of inaugural director and artistic director, describing her as "a theater director and arts administration specialist with both field experience and administrative capability."

Practitioners in the field disagreed. They said Eo's career shows no expertise in performing arts for children and young people. The position, they argued, requires a deep understanding of the developmental stages, sensory needs and emotional viewing environments of audiences ranging from infants and toddlers to children, teenagers and children with disabilities — yet the ministry had entrusted a national arts organization to someone whose background is centered on general administration.

"An artistic director is not simply an organizational manager — it is a role that determines the aesthetic direction of a national arts organization, selects works and creators, and charts a vision for the future," the groups said in their statement. "General administrative expertise cannot take precedence over, or substitute for, the aesthetic expertise unique to performing arts for children and young people."

The theater community also expressed dismay over what it described as a disregard for the organization's history. The National Theater Company of Korea's Children and Youth Theater Research Institute — the predecessor of the new company — spent roughly 15 years after its founding in 2011 conducting research, developing original works and building audiences for children's and youth theater. That work formed the basis for the organization's separation into an independent national arts body in 2025, but practitioners said the appointment of an unproven figure to the symbolic inaugural post had rendered those years of effort meaningless.

There are also concerns about damage to South Korea's international standing. The country is set to host the 22nd Assitej World Congress and Children's and Youth Performing Arts Festival in Suwon in July 2027, one of the most prestigious gatherings of performing arts professionals for young audiences worldwide.

"It is deeply disheartening that at this decisive moment — when we must demonstrate to the world the achievements of Korean children's and youth performing arts — we find ourselves having to explain and argue, once again, why the artistic director of the national theater company must have expertise in this field," the theater community said.

The controversy has grown beyond a dispute over a single appointment into a broader question of whether the state genuinely recognizes children and young people as subjects of cultural rights. Assitej Korea and the other signatories said they would pursue a range of actions — including a public petition drive — until the ministry withdraws the appointment and reselects a candidate with the expertise and artistic vision to satisfy the field, through a process the community can accept.