Late minister Lee O-young was 'cultural icon' of literary criticism

Former Culture Minister Lee O-young poses at the Young-in Literary Museum in this August 2021 file photo. Yonhap

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Lee O-young, who died on Saturday at the age of 89, roughly five years after being diagnosed with cancer, was an eminent literary critic who served as Korea's first culture minister and helped the country reach its status as a cultural powerhouse.

A renowned scholar, he had long been considered one of the brightest minds in the country.

While attending Seoul National University in 1956, he made his literary debut as a critic through an article titled "Destruction of an Idol," which criticized thinkers and writers for their authoritarianism while arguing that literature and creative arts must possess a spirit of resistance.

Lee worked as an editorial writer for several newspapers including Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, Seoul Shinmun and Kyunghyang Shinmun. He wrote more than 130 books over 60 years, including novels, poems and essays, and prided himself on writing about Korea's vibrant cultural legacy.

Some of his established works include "In This Earth and in That Wind" (1968), which delves into aspects of Korean traditional culture, and "Kimchi, a Taste of a Thousand Years" (1998), which deals with the subject of the Korean food staple. A devotee of poet Yi Sang, Lee established the Yi Sang Literary Award in 1977. It is considered one of Korea' most prestigious literary awards.

He taught Korean literature at Ewha Womans University in Seoul and became an honorary professor in 2011.

Lee orchestrated the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, an event seen as a significant boost for the country's economy and global image. He developed the idea of a boy performing with the hoop at the Olympic opening ceremony.

Former Culture Minister Lee O-young, right, poses in front of the Ministry of Culture in this 1990 file photo. Korea Times file

Under the Roh Tae-woo administration, he served as the country's first culture minister from 1990 to 1991. This was after the Ministry of Culture and the Department of Public Information was divided into two separate units in 1989.

He played a major role in founding the Korea National University of Arts (KNUA), the state-run institution that specializes in art education, which opened in 1992.

Park Sae-eun, who is now a top dancer for the Paris Opera Ballet, as well as many actors including Lee Sun-kyun, Kim Go-eun and Park So-dam are all graduates of KNUA.

He also established the National Institute of Korean Language and came up with a plan to restore the Gyeongbok Palace by removing the Japanese Government-General of Korea building, a major symbol of the 1910-45 Japanese colonial occupation.

In October 2021, Lee was awarded an order of cultural merit for his contribution to the development of the country's literature.

The funeral portrait of former Culture Minister Lee O-young is seen at a funeral altar at Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

Politicians, cultural figures and scholars mourned his death.

"Lee was a pioneer of Korean culture, he had the vision to make our traditions flourish. We owe it to him to embrace our culture and heritage with love," President Moon Jae-in said.

"As the first culture minister of Korea, Lee made great strides in our country's cultural policies," Culture Minister Hwang Hee said in a statement, Sunday.

"He was at the forefront of improving the surge of Korean popular culture. As a culture critic, he stood up against authoritarianism and set an example that can be evaluated as pure literature," Yoo Hong-jun, the former director of the Cultural Heritage Administration, said.

The funeral ceremony is scheduled to take place at the National Library of Korea at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

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