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| Ballet dancer Na Dae-han. / Courtesy of Korean National Ballet |
The ballet held a disciplinary committee meeting Monday and decided to dismiss the dancer for breaking the self-quarantine regulations. This is the first time the KNB has fired a member since its establishment in 1962.
Na, 28, a member of the corps de ballet (non-soloist dancers) traveled to Japan in late February and uploaded photos of himself and his girlfriend on his social media account.
The KNB had advised all members to place themselves in quarantine from Feb. 24 to March 1 after performing in coronavirus-hit Daegu on Feb. 14 and 15.
Due to the surge in coronavirus cases, the government designated hard-hit Daegu and parts of North Gyeongsang Province as "special disaster zones."
All artists, including Na, were instructed to stay home and report every day after checking their body temperature.
According to the KNB's internal regulations, the organization can dismiss a member if they do not show up to work for more than seven consecutive days without cause or notice, or intentionally or negligently cause losses to the organization's property or seriously harm its reputation by misconduct such as sexual harassment.
"We reflected upon our conduct at a time when the whole country is confronted with the grave situation, struggling with COVID-19," the KNB said in a statement. "We will overhaul the organization and impose stricter discipline on our members."
The KNB also punished two other members for conducting private lessons during the self-quarantine period.
Earlier on March 2, artistic director Kang Sue-jin released a statement, apologizing for "bringing concern to people at such a dreadful time in the country. We, the Korean National Ballet, will proceed with internal procedures to impose serious disciplinary action on the dancer."
Na earned popularity on Mnet's romance reality show "Somebody" in 2018. The show invited dancers from various genres to find romantic partners. Soon after the show ended in 2019, he joined the KNB.
