Over 400 artists allegedly blacklisted by the Park Geun-hye administration for their critical views of the government have filed a lawsuit against Park and her former top presidential aides, their lawyers said Thursday. 

According to Minbyun, or Lawyers for a Democratic Society, the group has so far recruited 461 artists and cultural figures as plaintiffs in a case against the government and individuals involved in drawing up a list of cultural figures deemed unfavorable to the Park administration and blocking them from various state support programs. 

The individuals include the president, former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon and former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun. 

“(Blacklisting of artists and subsequent discrimination) was a serious violation of the artists’ rights, such as freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and their right to privacy and secrecy,” Minbyun said in a press conference. 

They are demanding 1 million won ($873) per plaintiff in compensation, but the damage claim could go higher, the group said. It also plans to recruit more plaintiffs. 

Earlier this week, the special counsel team investigating President Park’s scandal indicted Kim and Cho in relation to the blacklist allegation and stated Park as an accomplice in their arraignment.    

The team believes that the creation of the list was led by Park’s chief of staff Kim, under the president’s directive, and was handed over to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a reference for state-funded projects and grant programs.  

Although the list has never been surfaced, local reports said they had some 10,000 names, including high-profile celebrities such as “Oldboy” director Park Chan-wook and poet Ko Un. 

“The damages (of the blacklisted artists) are too serious to be estimated, as the list blocked them from performing artistic activities,” Jeon Min-kyung, one of the representatives of the group, said at the press conference. “The 1 million won we are demanding is just part of the compensation, along with other property damages.”  

The group added that it would file another lawsuit against Park’s aides for illegally collecting the personal information of artists in the process of the blacklisting. 

Park’s alleged involvement in blacklisting liberal artists has been seen as a key element in her ongoing impeachment trial by the Constitutional Court.
The court is currently reviewing whether to end her presidency, while Park has been stripped of her powers until the decision is made.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)