[Opinion] Yoo Hong-joon’s Excuse

According to the annals of the Joseon Dynasty, the Ministry of Rites proposed to King Hyeonjong that the fire that burned the residence of the superintendents near the royal tomb of Yeongreung was unacceptable and that those responsible should be harshly punished. The King did punish those responsible. What the fire burned was just the residence of the superintendents, but that was considered a big deal because it was near the tomb of the father of the King.

King Hyojong was forcefully sent to China after the Ching Dynasty invasion at the age of 19 and returned to Joseon at age 27. He was particularly close to Hyeonjong, his only son from the queen. So much so that there are many stories about Yeongreung, the tomb of Hyojong, in the annals of King Hyojong. Ten years before the fire, 11 high-ranking officials responsible for the maintenance of Yeongreung were jailed and the vice prime minister was scolded because the stone figures placed before the tomb collapsed and the colors of the tiles of the T-shaped house for sacrifice in front of the tomb changed. The king finally relocated the tomb to Yeoju.

Yoo Hong-jun, the president of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), held a barbecue party in front of the ritual room of Yeongreung after the celebration of the 610th birthday of King Sejong on May 15 with some 30 officials, including Grand National Party member Rhee Q-taek and the governor of Yeoju. That was a clear violation of CHA regulations that prohibit the use of cooking utensils and inflammables near the tomb. But Yoo offered a lame excuse, saying, “Sharing food after ritual is a centuries-old practice.” His excuse is outrageous. It is not the Joseon Dynasty and he is not the king.

Yoo registered 3.05 billion won of property this year, and 1.688 billion won out of the amount is from royalties on his books, including three best-selling series titled, “My Exploration of Cultural Heritage.” He wrote that he explored Korea’s cultural heritage with love. But he now enjoyed a cookout in front of the ritual room of Yeongreung, which is known to be the finest ritual room of the Joseon Dynasty, and doesn’t admit any fault in doing so. His hypocrisy is worse than the ugly scene of the barbecue party.

Kim Chang-hyuk, Editorial Writer, chang@donga.com