Background of the Decision to Consolidate Press Rooms

Regarding measures to advance the media reporting support system, which focus on merging press rooms, Kim Chang-ho, head of the Government Information Agency, said on May 28, “Clearly, the president’s order to study press rooms in other countries played an important role”, in a general meeting of the culture and tourism committee of the National Assembly.

That was Mr. Kim’s response to Cheon Young-se, a lawmaker of the Democratic Labor Party, asking, “Whether President Roh’s mentioning of ‘the conspiring of reporters’ in January and his order to study press rooms in other countries were the main cause of the policy of consolidating press rooms.” Mr. Kim went on to say, “We had working-level discussions with the press relations office at Cheong Wa Dae whenever necessary.”

“Within the Government Information Agency, there were problems related to the briefing room. So we were actually trying to find out what was going on,” he added.

Mr. Kim also claimed, “If we had fielded opinions about specific policies, there would have been strong resistance, and it would have been impossible to announce the plan,” when some lawmakers blamed the government for failing to collect opinions in advance.

Lawmakers not only from the Grand National Party (GNP), but also from the Uri Party and the Democratic Labor Party censured the government for the policy.

“This is not a support but an oppression of media reporting,” GNP Lawmaker Chang Yoon-seok pointed out, “The government said the new plan would consolidate briefing rooms currently scattered across different organizations to make the system more efficient. However, this will block access to news sources.”

Lawmaker Shim Jae-cheol scolded the government, saying, “This is an unconstitutional measure which violates the basic rights of the Korean people and directly threatens freedom of speech. Lawmaker Park Chan-suk said, “The government plan is similar to the regulations on the media in 1980 in a sense that it would get rid of press rooms and hinder contact with public officials.”

Lawmaker Cheong Byunk-guk pointed out, “It is the Roh administration’s hostile and divisive perception of the media that has brought about this outcome,” while lawmaker Cheong Jong-bok warned, “Closing the Government Information Agency would save about 25.7 billion won.”

Yoon Won-ho, an Uri Party lawmaker, expressed his worries, saying, “This year is important because of the presidential election. The Uri Party is perplexed because the government announced such an explosive statement now. If the plan goes forward, it will result in many adverse side-effects.”

Woo Sang-ho, an Uri Party lawmaker, criticized; “The administration bulldozed this plan through without changing the minds of public officials who would otherwise avoid reporters or otherwise say anything that would put them at a disadvantage.”

Even Jung Cheong-Rae, the Uri Party lawmaker who aggressively initiated the enactment of the media law which was previously declared partially unconstitutional by the Constitution Court, said, “This went too far because reporters will have to get approval from the heads of PR teams in each organization prior to asking questions. This plan needs improvement.”

Yoo Seon-ho, an independent lawmaker, said, “Freedom of press is related to the very nature and nucleus of democracy. This is not equivalent to collateral matters which trouble public officials who carry out public duties.” Another independent lawmaker, Jeon Byung-hun, criticized the government, saying, “What the government is doing is insisting on giving cars the right to run despite setting up broken traffic lights.”

Mr. Kim’s sophism-

Driven into a corner, Mr. Kim gave answers that didn’t make sense. When lawmaker Jang Yun-seok posed the question: “Did the government expect the public to support the plan?” he said, “(Public) support was not a matter of concern.” Mr. Jang said later, “It is such an arrogant reply.”

Mr. Kim also said, “It doesn’t make a difference whether one collects opinions before or after the announcement of policies. It is just a technical matter.” He even said, “Carrying out surveys on public opinion or giving political consideration in advance could distort discussions.” Lawmaker Yoon Won-ho sighed at that response, saying, “That is so reckless.”

Mr. Kim went even further, claiming, “The government plan is to provide more help and information to journalists and protect freedom of speech.” However, he was unable to provide details on how that would be accomplished.

mindy@donga.com