(LEAD) Gwangju Biennale chief regrets China's withdrawal over Taiwan row

The chief executive of the Gwangju Biennale, Youn Bum-mo, has expressed regret over the withdrawal of Chinese artists from the art festival due to a dispute over the naming of a Taiwan exhibition space. The controversy arose when the Gwangju Biennale Foundation initially referred to the Taiwan Pavilion as the "NTMoFA Pavilion," causing a protest from Taiwan's culture ministry.

The Chinese artists subsequently halted installation work and withdrew from the event in protest. Youn acknowledged the situation as "apologetic and saddened" and pledged to reform the event's pavilion system to prevent future controversies. He explained that the original applicant for the pavilion was an institution rather than the Taiwanese government, and the agreement documented between the foundation and the Taiwanese side is a memorandum signed by both institutions.

Youn added that the foundation changed the pavilion's name following claims that refusing the name "Taiwan Pavilion" amounted to censorship, fearing the controversy might affect the main exhibition.

Brief written by urgent.news from Yonhap News's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.