[Anchor]

We previously reported that a work displayed at the National Museum of Korea as the brush calligraphy of an independence activist turned out to be the writing of a pro-Japanese collaborator. Now, as the piece in question has been revealed to be from the personal collection of the museum's director, Yoo Hong-jun, calls for his resignation are mounting. Director Yoo repeatedly bowed his head in apology, calling it a "grave oversight."

Reporter Park Jae-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

[August 13, SBS 8 News: As the nation's most authoritative institution, it seems difficult to avoid criticism that it has lost face due to poor artifact verification.]

In July, this handwritten calligraphy was displayed at the National Museum of Korea as the work of patriotic martyr Park Won-geun, but following an SBS report in August, it was revealed to be the writing of pro-Japanese collaborator Park Jung-yang.

At the time, National Museum Director Yoo Hong-jun issued a public apology, stating only that the museum's fact-checking had been inadequate, but it was recently further revealed that this calligraphy was none other than Director Yoo's personal collection.

Today (October 19), during a parliamentary audit, Director Yoo apologized, calling it a "grave oversight."

[Yoo Hong-jun / Director of the National Museum of Korea: The value built up by the efforts of our museum staff has crumbled in an instant due to my grave oversight.]

Lawmakers from the People Power Party demanded his resignation, asking if an apology was enough, but Director Yoo avoided giving a direct answer.

[Kim Seok-ki / People Power Party Lawmaker: (It would be appropriate) for our director to cleanly step down...]

[Yoo Hong-jun / Director of the National Museum of Korea: So that such a mistake will never happen again...]

[Yoon Yong-geun / People Power Party Lawmaker: Does that fulfill your responsibility?]

[Yoo Hong-jun / Director of the National Museum of Korea: I believe we must overhaul the system.]

Criticism also poured in from the Democratic Party, with lawmakers questioning, "Why did you hide that you yourself were the owner?" and "Was internal verification poor precisely because it was the director's personal collection?"

[Choi Min-hee / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Why didn't you disclose that you were the owner?]

[Yoo Hong-jun / Director of the National Museum of Korea: As an art historian, I hesitated to publicly disclose that I had made such a major mistake.]

[Lee Jeong-mun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Was it omitted like this because it received special treatment and ignored proper procedures?]

[Yoo Hong-jun / Director of the National Museum of Korea: Decisions are made by the curatorial team and the people advising them...]

Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties unanimously lamented that the recently elevated stature of the National Museum of Korea has suffered a major blow due to this incident.

(Video by Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Oh Young-taek)