The director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art abruptly quit four months before the end of his term of office.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism accepted the former MOCA head Bae Soon-hoon’s resignation on Tuesday. He is known to have submitted his letter about 20 days ago, soon after attending the parliamentary audit in which he felt extremely humiliated, according to museum officials.

Several members of the National Assembly rebuked him for his “bad attitude” presented by crossing his legs and putting his hand in his pocket during the audit held on Oct. 7.

“I put my hand in my pocket because my cell rang and crossed my legs because it is hard for me to sit still for long as my hips are getting thinner as I age. I beg your forgiveness,” Bae had said during the audit. He apologized another six times regarding the matter, bowing his head.

Officials at MOCA are disconcerted at Bae’s sudden departure.

“A rumor went around that he might quit, but we did not know for sure until the Culture Ministry accepted his resignation. He had even participated in our field day event a few days ago and took photos with the staff,” said a PR official at the museum.

“We are worried about what will happen to MOCA’s Seoul branch and how next year’s budget will turn out. The building of the new branch is just getting started and we had pinned high hopes on Bae since he has good networks with the government and business circles,” she added.

The Culture Ministry appointed Yun Nam-seon, MOCA’s Secretary General of the Planning and Management, as the acting director on Tuesday.

Bae’s appointment as the museum head in 2009 came as a surprise as he had never held a job related to art. Bae majored in mechanical engineering at Seoul National University and obtained his Ph.D in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

He served as the president and CEO of Daewoo Electronics from 1991-95, the Minister of Information and Communication in 1998 and vice president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology from 2006-09.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)