Reporter :

It's time for our daily art segment with Yim Yoonhee live in the studio. Good afternoon.Good afternoon.Recently, a few very big auctions took place here in Korea.Art auctions have only been popular here in Korea for about 10 years.But they're rapidly growing.Were these auctions selling contemporary works or more traditional works?One ongoing series of auctions, which have been going on for some months, sold modern and contemporary works. While one auction that took place last week had some very very rare and ancient artifacts. Let's take a look.Going once, going twice, sold.The history of the art auction here in Korea is relatively short.But the history of some of the pieces being sold goes back much further.In fact, some pieces even date back to the Joseon Dynasty -- like this folding screen painting called "Yeoji Yeondo [ ]."The ten-panel masterpiece depicts a Taoist utopia.And at the 12th auction held by My Art Auction, the piece sold for around 615 thousand U.S. dollars."Six hundred fifteen thousand. Six hundred fifteen thousand dollars it is The item is sold "But that wasn't the only antique sold.The atmosphere was abuzz with eager bidders, and next up on the block was a Joseon Dynasty chair the king himself used to sit on when he was outdoors.Made with real tiger fur, adorned with gold and shaped like a dragon, this historical treasure is the first of its kind to be auctioned -- and it sold for approximately 350 thousand U.S. dollars.Other 18th century art works were auctioned off as well, bringing the end-of-the-day total to 5 thousand dollars more than expected, for a record total of two.three million dollars."We didn't expect this kind of response, and couldn't believe how many people wanted to participate in the bidding. Compared to previous auctions, more than twice as many people attended."Since December, the response to art auctions has far exceeded any expectations sending a burst of energy through the Korean art community, making Korean art more accessible to many more people.[STUDIO]When I think of art auctions, I think of art connoisseurs and art collectors. But that's not the case these days, right?Exactly. So when the economy does a little better, it's said that people loosen their coin purses a bit.The art community definitely is one of the first to feel the benefits of a more stable economy.And now days, auction houses are even doing online auctions, making it very accessbile.So with more publicity and easier access, every day people are starting their own collections.What kind of Korean works tend to be the most popular at auctions?The Joseon period works are the most popular auction items when looking at ancient works.In 1996, an iron decorated dragon jar sold for a little over 8.4 million US dollars.But now days, contemporary and modern art works have been getting quite a bit of attention in the art markets as well. Thanks to a recent auction that took place late last year.Yoonhee, you say December in the report. What is the significance of December?Over the past few months there has been a significant spike in interest in Korean Art auctions.You remember, former president CHUN Doo-hwan was given a multi million dollar fine, and the Korean government confiscated hundreds of works from the Chun fammily private collection to help compensate the fine.This past December was the first of the Chun Collection Auctions.Seoul Auction and K Auction, the two leading auction houses of Korea, were commissioned and sold the works bringing in a total of 7.48 million dollars.Now I know with art auctions---any auction for that matter, the previous owner plays a big role in the selling of the items.How did CHUN Doo-hwan's reputation affect the auctions?That's interesting. The auction houses had originally worried because of CHUN Doo-hwan's prior history.But after seeing so much success with the first auction, they found that people were actually anxious to get their hands on these works.The main reasons being that the prices were set below market prices for many of the works, and many of the pieces are very rare.Thank you for that.It's my pleasure.