Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young and newly appointed National Gugak Center Director Seo Seung-mi [National Gugak Center]
Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young and newly appointed National Gugak Center Director Seo Seung-mi [National Gugak Center]

Seo Seung-mi, 56, a music education professor at Gyeongin National University of Education, has been appointed director of the National Gugak Center, ending a two-year leadership vacuum at the institution. Her term runs through June 2028.

The appointment puts the National Gugak Center back on track after years of dysfunction that followed the retirement of former director Kim Yeong-un in June 2024, during which multiple recruitment drives collapsed and selection reviews were repeatedly delayed.

Seo brings a background spanning theory, performance and academic administration. She earned a bachelor's degree in Korean traditional music from Seoul National University, followed by a master's degree in Korean traditional instrumental music — specializing in the daegeum, a traditional bamboo flute — from the same institution, and a doctorate in philosophy of art from Sungkyunkwan University. She served as a member of the National Gugak Center ensemble from 1993 to 1995 and has continued to perform as a daegeum player. Since 2005, she has taught music education at Gyeongin National University of Education, training generations of students.

Founded in Busan in 1951, the National Gugak Center is South Korea's foremost state institution for traditional music. Its main campus is in Seoul, with branch centers in Namwon, Jindo and Busan. The center oversees the preservation and transmission of gugak, as well as academic research, performances and education programs.

Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young said he expects Seo to lead the center with stability, drawing on her experience as both an educator and performer, and to contribute to the promotion and revitalization of gugak.


shee@heraldcorp.com