Six in 10 major cultural heritage sites have no curatorial staff — 34 have never had any

Chronic shortage of curatorial staff at heritage sites

Poor pay and remote locations drive away applicants and new hires

Broken climate-control equipment left unrepaired for years

Experts call for stable working conditions and sustained maintenance

Six in 10 sites designated as major cultural heritage repositories nationwide have no curatorial staff, a new review has found. Of the 38 unstaffed sites, 34 have never employed a curator at any point in their history.

The findings come from data submitted to the National Assembly by the Cultural Heritage Administration and obtained by Rep. Jo Gye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea, who sits on the Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and represents Yeosu in South Jeolla Province. As of the end of August, 38 of the 64 nationally designated major cultural heritage repositories — 59.4 percent — had no curatorial staff in place. Of those 38 sites, 34, or 89.5 percent, had never had a curator on staff.

Curatorial staff are the specialists responsible for researching and documenting cultural heritage and artworks held at museums, galleries and similar institutions, preserving and managing collections to prevent deterioration, and planning and running exhibition and education programs based on that work.

The Cultural Heritage Administration attributed the staffing gaps to several factors: many of the unstaffed sites, including Buddhist temples, are difficult to reach, which depresses the pool of applicants; and even when sites do hire curators, poor pay and working conditions lead to high turnover. In fact, three of the 38 unstaffed sites had managed to hire curators through a government support project for major repositories, but those employees left before completing their tenure.

Problems also emerged in the maintenance of temperature- and humidity-control systems essential for preserving cultural heritage. The Cultural Heritage Administration identified seven sites with broken climate-control equipment, four of which cited a lack of secured funding as the reason repairs had not been made. Some equipment has been broken since 2023 and remains unrepaired, and at least one site has scheduled repairs for 2027.

Experts say major repository sites need stable working environments that allow specialist staff to remain long-term, and that a systematic framework must be established to ensure preservation facilities are continuously maintained.

"Given that the Lee Jae-myung administration has set a goal of elevating the value of national heritage — the roots of K-culture — and positioning Korea as a cultural powerhouse, the starting point must be properly preserving and managing our cultural heritage," Rep. Jo said. "With curatorial staff absent from six in 10 major repositories, and a significant number having no history of staffing at all, there is a clear need to examine whether the current curatorial support system is adequately meeting the needs on the ground."

terry@heraldcorp.com