The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism on September 14 announced that Kim Sung-hee will be the next director of South Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA). Kim will step into her new role on September 18. She takes over from MMCA’s planning and general management chief Park Jong-dal, who has served as interim director since late April, when Youn Bum-mo departed the post twenty-two months before his contract expired. Youn, who assumed the role of director in 2019, had been appointed under the administration of left-leaning Moon Jae-in, under which he had been awarded a second term as MMCA’s leader. His resignation is widely believed to have been the result of pressure from the conservative government of president Yoon Suk-yeol, who was elected in 2022.
The MMCA comprises four venues: two in Seoul, one in Gwacheon, and a facility in Cheongju where the musuem’s collection is stored and displayed. Kim arrives to the institution from the CAN Foundation, where she was executive director. She is a cofounder of the nonprofit, which supports emerging artists in South Korea and elsewhere. Kim was additionally a professor in the curatorial studies and art management department at Hongik University, where she taught art planning. She served as artistic director of the Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale in 2007 and curated the special exhibition at the 2000 Gwangju Biennale.
Kim’s appointment followed a public call for applicants issued in May by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. She beat out two-other shortlisted candidates, Kim Chan-dong and Shim Sang-yong. Though Youn’s tenure was set to end in February 2025, Kim will not run out his term but will instead occupy the role for a full three years.