Korean Journalists Society Won’t Accept Press Supporting System

Chief of the Korean Journalists Society Jeong Il-yong decided on July 12 that the society will not accept a joint statement regarding the ‘Measure for Advancement of the Press Supporting System.’ Accordingly, the adoption of the joint statement, which was discussed by the government and press organizations including the Korean Journalists Society after a debate between President Roh and journalists on June 17 has been dismissed.

The society had a steering committee meeting at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on July 12 and took a vote on rescinding the joint statement and adopting measures for better reporting circumstances, which was initiated by the chief of the special committee. As a result of the voting, 14 out of 20 committee members voted against the joint statement and agreed with the adoption of the special committee’s measures.

The special committee’s measures include several themes: if the purpose of reporting is clear, government officials should have an interview with reporter immediately, and if there is a person avoiding an interview on purpose, the person’s right of objection shall not be raised. Moreover, provisions for punishment against persons in charge of extensions, whether malicious information is opened or not, and against persons hosting an inquiry commission for public information and releasing documents of public organizations except confidential documents within ten days are contained in the measure.

There has been a complaint within the journalists’ society that the chief of the society accepted the government consultation without taking opinions from journalists. Chief of the special committee Park Sang-beom pointed out that, “After a debate with the president, the president’s secretary and four heads of press met just four times in 15 days and agreed to a joint statement. That was too short a time to review the whole reporting culture, and a hasty decision.”

The Korean Journalists Society announced that it will renegotiate with the government based on the special committee’s measures, and that Chief Park will be the only channel for the negotiations. Park said, “As the members of the committee signed on to the agreement, we denied the statement, deciding that we don’t have to give an impression that we are cooperating with the government, and we will file a petition if the government tries to shut its press rooms.”

However, Cheong Wa Dae is about to enforce its “Measures for Advancement of Press Supporting System’ as planned despite the backlash from journalists, and troubles between the government and the journalists’ society is expected.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said in a regular briefing that, “The government has not decided yet how to respond to the denial of the joint statement by the Korean Journalists Society. Since the agreement has been made after consultation with five press organizations, we plan to keep the original agreement even if one organization does not agree with the statement.”

zozo@donga.com