Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to audit National Museum of Korea over Blackpink event

The controversy surrounding the fan-meeting celebrating Blackpink's 10th anniversary of debut has ultimately reached the audit office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. As allegations surfaced that access to certain exhibition spaces was restricted and existing educational program schedules were altered to accommodate the event held at the National Museum of Korea, a civil complaint was filed demanding an investigation into whether the event approval and facility usage processes were appropriate.

On the 10th, the audit office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appointed an audit officer regarding the controversies involving event approval, facility usage, and viewing restrictions surrounding Blackpink's fan-meeting at the National Museum of Korea. The audit request is scheduled to be processed by the 19th.

The event in question is the Blackpink 10th anniversary 'Meet & Greet' held at the National Museum of Korea on the 8th. Although it was a small-scale event attended by 4 members of Blackpink and 40 fans selected through a lottery, the controversy began not with the scale of the event, but with its impact on the operation of a public cultural facility.

In particular, the fact that the fan-meeting location and operational methods were not concretely finalized until just before the event has come under scrutiny.

It has been reported that the specific location for the fan-meeting inside the National Museum of Korea had not been finalized even as late as the afternoon of the 7th, the day before the event. At that time, YG Entertainment and the National Museum of Korea were reportedly coordinating detailed operational plans for the event.

However, claims have emerged that access to some exhibition spaces was controlled on the day of the event and that changes were made to existing educational programs.

Artist Lee Da, who conducted the 'Amazing Thailand Exhibition Viewing + Drawing Workshop,' shared the situation on her X account, stating, "We were supposed to view the exhibition from 2:30, but they forcibly extended the theory lecture until 3:10."

Ultimately, the focus of the controversy is not the fact itself that 'Blackpink held a fan-meeting at the National Museum of Korea.'

The core issue is to what extent a national cultural facility with public character can adjust its space and operational schedule for a specific event, and whether the rights of general visitors and existing programs were appropriately considered in that process.

The current civil complaint also focuses on these administrative procedures.

It demands verification of whether the fan-meeting was conducted as an external rental or as the National Museum of Korea's own event or a joint cultural/promotional project. Along with this, requests have been made to include the approval process for facility use, the decision to restrict access to certain exhibition spaces, the circumstances behind the schedule changes of existing programs, and the process of posting notices on the website in the investigation.

In particular, the complaint includes content requesting that if inappropriate administrative handling is confirmed, measures such as correction, caution, improvement, recommendation, or notification be considered, and if criminal suspicions related to duties are discovered, even a referral to investigative agencies should be reviewed. It also demanded follow-up measures such as disciplinary action or accountability for those involved if misconduct is confirmed.

The issues that the audit officer can actually investigate are specific.

It will be possible to confirm when the event was first consulted upon and applied for, when the approval occurred, and when the actual event location was finalized. Furthermore, the investigation can look into what procedures were followed for the decision to control certain exhibition spaces and who decided on the schedule changes for existing educational programs and based on what grounds.

If the event was an external rental, the key will be whether the National Museum of Korea's relevant rental regulations were properly applied. Conversely, if it was classified as the museum's own event or a joint project, it must be examined why the event was decided to be an internal or joint project, and whether the grounds and internal approval process were appropriate.

Ultimately, this matter boils down to an administrative issue that goes beyond likes or dislikes regarding celebrity events.

The National Museum of Korea is not a general performance venue for the private events of specific stars or corporations, but a representative public cultural facility used by all citizens. While collaboration with famous artists or cultural promotion can be one of the museum's roles, if the rights of general visitors or existing programs are sacrificed in the process, the grounds and procedures for that decision must be transparently disclosed.

The current 'Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Audit Regulations' also mandate audits to identify problems in specific tasks, projects, funds, or vulnerable work areas, and to clarify causes and responsibilities to prepare improvement measures.

Therefore, the audit office's judgment is likely to focus not on whether 'Blackpink's event was wrong,' but on how the public institution approved the event and whether it faithfully upheld its public nature during the process.

Blackpink's 10th anniversary event had noise regarding its schedule and scale from the beginning. The event was announced only two days before the anniversary, and with attendance limited to 40 people, some fans expressed dissatisfaction.

With the added controversy of the National Museum of Korea's space control and program schedule changes, the matter has escalated beyond a simple fan-meeting dispute.

While Blackpink's star power may help facilitate events, the moment a public institution's space is used, what is required is clear administrative procedure rather than celebrity influence.

Attention is now focused on whether this complaint will lead to an actual audit and what decisions the audit officer will make regarding the approval and operation of the event.