Yoo family has interacted with famous people
The Korea Times/May 23, 2014
By Kim Da-ye
In Korea, Yoo Byung-eun became an icon of greed after the sinking of the ferry Sewol, but he has been portrayed as a talented photographer or a genius in films and interviews with world-renowned artists.
That image was built up by his second son, Hyuk-kee, whose English name is Keith Yoo. The junior Yoo is known to have organized exhibitions of photos taken by his father, and "bought" reviews from celebrities.
Before the ferry accident, Yoo was recognized as the leader of a cult related to a mass suicide in 1987 known as the "Odaeyang incident," although he was not charged with any crime. Hyuk-kee was barely known outside the Salvation Sect.
In stark contrast, Yoo built up a reputation abroad as a mysterious billionaire photographer with a peculiar style, and Hyuk-kee as his sociable representative and CEO of Ahae Press. They built an extensive overseas network of influential acquaintances including a former director of the Louvre Museum, a film soundtrack composer and diplomats.
Singer Park Jin-young was also found to be the husband of a niece of Yoo, triggering speculation that Park's firm, JYP Entertainment, is associated with Yoo or the religious group.
The Yoo family's relationships with famous people recently came under scrutiny as observers pointed out that the relationships reveal the opulent lifestyle Hyuk-kee enjoyed with wealth of dubious origins.
Many of Yoo and his son's VIP acquaintances worked with them for Yoo's photo exhibitions.
Henri Loyrette, a former director of the Louvre Museum, is one of them. The Ahae News website, which was set up after the ferry accident to defend Yoo's reputation as a photographer, carries a statement from him written in March 2012.
Loyrette said in the statement that he got to know Yoo through Guy Oliver, a well-known interior designer. Oliver said about Yoo at a lunch in Malaysia, that he was "an artist who had created a grand experiment, taking 1 million photographs in two years" from a single window, according to Loyrette.
It is not known how Yoo and Oliver met, but the designer did the setting for Yoo's exhibitions at the Palace of Versailles.
Yoo and Hyuk-kee's network reaches far beyond the circle of exhibition organizers to the world of music.
Michael Nyman, a knighted British composer, wrote a symphony for Yoo. Ahaeproducts. com sells a music compact disk titled, "Michael Nyman Through the Only Window," which the website says was "written in the spirit of an open dialogue with the imagery of Ahae's photographs."
In the summer of 2012, Ilan Eshkeri, a British composer who created the soundtracks for various films including "Ninja Assassin," "Kick Ass" and "Stardust," also composed a song for Yoo's exhibition at the Tuileries Garden in front of the Louvre Museum in 2012.
The composer also conducted two concerts held in the garden to celebrate the exhibition. He mentioned Hyuk-kee as his friend there, saying, "None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of the artist and vision of the son, the patron and my friend, Keith Yoo, who is with us tonight."
Eshkeri's website says that he was asked to compose music inspired by Yoo's photographic works. "Whilst writing he became fascinated by the artist's process," the website said.
Hyuk-kee's network extended to the culinary world as he ran the Manhattan, N.Y. branch of luxury French chocolate brand, Debauve & Gallais.
In photographs taken by Wire Image back in 2005, Hyuk-kee is posing with Daniel Boulud, a French chef from a Michelin starred restaurant, who has outlets across the U.S. , Canada, the U.K. and Singapore.
Furthermore, Yoo apparently has contacts in the diplomatic circles of Korea. In an event to celebrate the launch of his photography book last year, Sung Kim, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, and the Israeli ambassador were seen.
The Korea Times contacted the media representatives of the U.S. and Israeli embassies to enquire about their relationships with Yoo, but couldn't reach anyone for comment.
Skeptics about Yoo claim that Yoo and Hyuk-kee met influential figures through businesses and sponsorships.
According to the Louvre's endowment fund report for 2012, Yoo donated 1.1 million euro (1.54 billion won) to the museum's foundation under the pseudonym of "AHAE, a Korean entrepreneur and artist."
Mike von Joel, an editor-in-chief of the London-based State Media magazine, denied that Yoo could have the exhibition at the Tuileries Garden because of his endowment to the Louvre.
"No artist, however, exalted, can bribe a historical and world renowned institution such as the Louvre," von Joel wrote in a letter endorsing Yoo's works.
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