Reporters Not Allowed to Visit Government Offices for Coverage

The Korean government decided on Thursday to put in place a new system for reporter coverage, in which reporters are not allowed to visit ministry or agency offices but can participate in regular briefings after registration.

The government also made sure that journalists should ask information officers at each ministry to arrange a meeting in advance in order to interview public officials.

Information officers from 40 ministries, agencies, and services participated in a meeting chaired by Cho Young-dong, chief of the Government Information Agency, and decided on plans to improve pressrooms and introduce regular briefings.

In a briefing on that day, Mr. Cho said that reporter visits to government offices for coverage during working hours do not coincide with the purpose of the introduction of the briefing system. He requested that media outlets refrain from visiting this way voluntarily.

The government decided to scrap plans to let reporters reveal sources and let public officials turn in reports after responding to an interview, which had stirred up controversy.

The government plans to make each ministry give more than one briefing per week and to make information officers and other senior officials give it at any time if there are pending issues in government complex buildings in Sejong-no, downtown Seoul, in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, and in Daejeon.

The government also decided to make each ministry and agency set up a briefing preparation committee, and when there is an issue involving many government ministries and agencies, the Government Information Agency will consult related ministries and agencies in advance to decide the time of the briefing.

In addition, it will try to pass the bill on administrational information opening, which is pending at the National Assembly and make sure that each ministry and agency writes an act on administrational information opening.

According to government plans, reporters who are members of the Korean Newspapers Association, the Korean Broadcasters Association, the Journalists Association of Korea, the Korean Internet newspapers association, the Internet journalists association of Korea, and Korean cameramen association can participate in briefings after registration.

Ki-Heung Han eligius@donga.com