Suspension of President`s Weekly Radio Address

President Roh Moo-hyun`s planned weekly radio address, which was supposed to be aired by the state KBS 1 from July 18, was tentatively suspended because of position differences between Chung Wa Dae and the broadcaster over how to handle the program.

Presidential secretary for public relations Lee Hae-sung said Wednesday, “Accepting the suggestion by KBS, the presidential office has pushed for the plan to deliver the president`s weekly address as a way for the president to explain his government`s policies and appeal for the public support for the government`s policies. But we decided to provisionally suspend the plan because of different views with the KBS.”

“The broadcasting company wants the president to appear on its program, while Chung Wa Dae wants the US style in which the KBS airs the president`s radio address and share the contents of the presidential speech with other broadcasting companies. However, we failed to narrow the difference, leading to the suspension of the plan,” he said.

Presidential secretary Lee placed the blame on the KBS side for the suspension of the plan by saying, “The KBS wanted Chung Wa Dae to consult the topic of the president`s weekly address and requested an interview with the president, which are not included in the initial agreement between the two sides.”

In response to the Chung Wa Dae official`s explanation, director of the production department at the KBS Chyung Cho-young said, “The KBS and Chung Wa Dae failed to narrow differences over how to handle the program because we wanted to air live the president`s weekly address while Chung Wa Dae wanted to record the speech and share the program with other broadcasting companies. Against this backdrop, we decided to turn down the Chung Wa Dae`s request.”

Another official at the KBS said, “After the news broke out that Chung Wa Dae had decided to deliver the president`s weekly address at the request of the KBS, a series of news have emerged that the MBC radio station has obatined an exclusive right to air the speech on a MBC radio program led by famous anchor Son Suk-hee and the SBS has obtained a right to record the planned weekly address. Since then, Chung Wa Dae seems to have experienced extreme confusions.” Meanwhile, presidential secretary for public relations Lee made it clear that the presidential office at Chung Wa Dae would review the plan for delivering the president`s weekly address with other broadcasting companies.

Young-Hae Choi Seung-Jae Lee yhchoi65@donga.com sjda@donga.com