Bae Hyun-jin says Yu Hong-jun should stay until audit ends after museum chief tenders resignation

People Power Party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, said the resignation of National Museum of Korea Director Yu Hong-jun should not be accepted until the comprehensive national audit is complete.

Bae made the remarks Wednesday in a Facebook post, saying she was "deeply disappointed by the timing" of Yu's decision to step down.

"With just two days left before the comprehensive audit — at which agency heads appear before the National Assembly alongside the minister — and with several matters still unresolved for which he bears final responsibility, quitting midway is something that has simply not happened, at least not at the vice-ministerial level or above," she said.

She added that while Yu had spoken of his conscience as a scholar, "the national audit is not a forum for examining one's philosophy — it is a place to scrutinize the management responsibilities of an agency head who has spent public funds."

Yu announced his resignation in a statement to reporters, saying he had "reached the conclusion that stepping down as director is the right course of action in order to restore the museum's damaged reputation."

"I offer my deepest apologies to the members of the public who have been disappointed and hurt by this matter, to the families of independence activists, and to the museum's staff," Yu said.

On the exhibition at the center of the controversy over his personal collection, he said he hoped "the significance of the exhibition, which the museum's research staff prepared with great dedication over a long period of time, will not be overshadowed."

The artifact in question was a piece of calligraphy bearing the inscription "Ilban sigugŭn" — meaning "even a single bowl of rice is entirely the grace of the nation" — which was featured in "Our Table," a special exhibition that opened at the National Museum of Korea in July.

The museum had initially attributed the calligraphy to independence activist Park Won-geun (1912–1950), but after receiving a tip from outside, concluded it was in fact the work of Park Jung-yang (1874–1959), a figure classified as a pro-Japanese collaborator.

It later emerged that Yu had purchased the piece at an online auction in 2019 for 50,000 won ($38) and recommended it for inclusion in the exhibition roughly two months before it opened, fueling the controversy.

Yu bowed twice in apology during the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's national audit on Monday, but calls for him to take responsibility continued from within and beyond the cultural community.