President Roh Proposes Weekly Radio Speech

Cheong Wa Dae has decided to institute a weekly radio address by President Roh Moo-hyun on state-run Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) radio starting next month. The weekly speech will be aired during morning commuting hours once every week.

Controversy is expected to arise over whether regular presidential speeches through a state-run media company are appropriate.

KBS decided to turn Radio 1 into a news-only station starting July 14 and proposed the president’s weekly speech along the same line as the U.S. president`s weekly address, presidential secretary for public relations Lee Hae-sung said on Sunday.

The presidential secretary said that U.S. presidents following Franklin D. Roosevelt have explained their policies to the nation through radio speeches and that the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae is currently debating broadcast timing and other details.

Cheong Wa Dae is considering various formats, including explanations by the president about the state of national affairs, interviews, and statements.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, the address will be aired for 5 to 15 minutes during morning commuting hours Monday or Friday and will focus mainly on policy but will not exclude political issues. It also plans to allow KBS to record the address in advance and distribute the recording to other broadcasting companies, thereby enabling them to broadcast it at the same time or for it to be used for rebroadcast.

"There is no reason the president should refrain from talking about political issues because he is the chief executive of the government and at the same time a politician," Lee Hae-sung said. “If opposition parties have differing opinions, broadcasting companies also have the right to express their own as well.”

Regarding this, Choe Byung-yul, chairman of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) agreed on the plan in principle. However, he said that based on the principle of fairness, state-run media should allow for opposition parties to share their views and that it is also the case in other advanced nations. He added that if the media company did not regard this request as fair, it could be stripped of the right to broadcast.

"If the president touches only on political issues in the run-up to parliamentary elections or gives instructions unilaterally without opposing viewpoints, he will face criticism in that he may be seen as attempting to control the media," said GNP spokesman Park Jong-hee in a statement.

Young-Hae Choi yhchoi65@donga.com