Singer-turned-painter Jo Young-nam suspected of plagiarism

Singer-turned-painter Jo Young-nam (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Jo Young-nam, a legendary South Korean singer from the 1970s who is also known to be a prolific painter, may have taken credit for hundreds of paintings that were actually created by his assistant, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Jo, who has painted professionally since 1990, appears to have used the assistant to produce more than 300 works that were sold under his name since 2009, the Sokcho branch of Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office said.

An investigation was launched after the assistant, identified only as a 61-year-old surnamed Song, filed a complaint in April with the prosecutors in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, where he lives.

Singer-turned-painter Jo Young-nam (Yonhap)

Prosecutors said they raided Jo’s office and galleries on Monday to collect evidence substantiating the allegations of fraud.

“If the assistant owns the copyright on these works, then what Jo did is fraud because he presented them as if they were his own,” a prosecutor in Sokcho said.

Jo has added fuel to the fire by downplaying the suspicions as “typical of the art industry.” But he later clarified, saying that what he meant was that employing assistants, not plagiarizing, is customary in the industry.

He also denied prosecutors’ charges in a press conference.

“The numbers are preposterous,” he told reporters at his mother’s home in central Seoul, referring to the claim that he plagiarized more than 300 works over eight years. “I only work with assistants on pieces of work that I plan to exhibit, which I do every six months. I guess I have a tendency to stick to a certain pattern in many of my works. I normally work on my own and only employ assistants when I’m busy.”

The singer said he currently works with three to four assistants. He also explained the creation process of his artwork.

“I take pictures of the original work and send them to Song,” he said. “Sometimes, I ask him to come up with rough sketches or tell him to do some coloring. Some pieces can be colored and others not. It really depends on the work.”

Producers of a radio show that Jo hosts said they will do the show without the singer for the time being, taking stock of the “situation.”

“We decided to hire a temporary DJ in his place until the situation gets resolved,” a producer at MBC Radio said, adding there have not been discussions about his possible departure yet.

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