Government Media Replies Create Buzz

The number of replies government ministries make to media reports posted on the “State Affairs Briefing” website will be reflected in the government’s assessment of the ministries. Against this backdrop, keen attention is being paid to those replies.

The government believes that online management of state affairs, such as encouraging the publication of official replies to media reports, does improve operational efficiency, but there are concerns that this may be exploited as a way to control state affairs.

Half of all replies are refutations and explanations-

The Dong-A Ilbo analyzed the April 6 article in the “Media Reports” section of the State Affairs Briefing website that covered 47 issues classified by type from news reports made on that day. Six refutations and four explanations were posted. Ten other replies were descriptions of why certain policies were being pursued and how.

In the April 5 article dealing with 44 issues, 26 replies were made, including nine refutations, five explanations and 12 descriptions.

In response to Dong-A Ilbo’s April 6 report on the government’s “encouragement of ministries to post replies,” the Korean Overseas Information Service (KOIS) stated in a reply made by the head of its First Analysis Team, “It is true that government officials were encouraged to post their opinions on ministries, but the report that we delivered the ‘order from Cheong Wa Dae’ in the form of an official document is not the case.”

When Dong-A Ilbo verified the statement, however, it turned out that right next to the title of an e-mail document, which it sent on February 10 to encourage public relations officials of each ministry to post replies, the KOIS added the phrase, “Ordered by the President.”

On April 6, the Ministry of Budget and Planning (MBP) refuted the Joong-Ang Ilbo report on manipulation of statistics on government budgets by saying, “The newspaper made a mistake of including state-owned enterprises in the government budget statistics for Korea while using statistics on governments alone in the case of foreign countries.”

On the Hankyoreh Newspaper report on “stationing helpers for the physically challenged in local community centers,” the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) posted a reply that it “distributed explanation materials because the article included things that have yet to be confirmed.”

With regard to the Dong-A Ilbo’s April 6 report on “resident registration numbers exposed on websites for public agencies,” the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) announced it would “immediately take measures to address the problem,” and the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGEHA) explained, “Government agencies involved in the issue are taking measures, respectively.”

Government agencies trying to read Roh’s mind-

In the “Online Dialogue with the Citizens” on March 23, President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his special interest on the Internet, saying, “It is true that I am the rare president who seized a winning chance on the Internet and parlayed it into a victory in the real world. I am confident that I understand the sector (the Internet) very well.”

President Roh also said he surfs the Internet for one to one and a half hours every day mainly to browse the State Affairs Briefing website.

In particular, when he likes one of the replies made by government officials on the website, the president reportedly goes as far as to ask the KOIS about who posted the reply.

This is why it was recently said among government officials that a good reply can even guarantee one’s “success” in career, said a senior official of a government agency.

Another government official explained, “As the President reviews the replies in person, [government officials] feel that on the State Affairs Briefing website, they might have to post only those replies endorsing the government’s stance.”

Myoung-Gun Lee Min-Hyuk Park gun43@donga.com mhpark@donga.com