Government Starts to Shut Down Pressrooms

The government cut off Internet access to pressrooms situated in 11 government departments and offices in the government complex in Sejongno, Seoul, including the one in the prime minister`s office, as part of its so-called Advanced Media Support System.

The government also said that it will block the entrance of reporters to the pressrooms at each government ministry starting Wednesday.

Conflicts between the government and journalists are getting worse as correspondents at government ministries, who have refused to move into a new press center, plan to continue to enter the pressrooms regardless of the government’s ban. Journalists, who held emergency meetings at each ministry that day, reconfirmed their original position of refusing to move to joint briefing centers and rejecting the Advanced Media Support System, which has been unilaterally decided by the government.

“Despite opposition from the media, civil organizations, academia and political groups, the government has pushed ahead with its measure and cut off the Internet and telephone lines in the pressrooms. This is an act of violence against democracy that threatens the people’s right to know and the media`s watchdog role,” correspondents at nine government ministries in the government complex in Gwacheon said in a joint statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, correspondents at some ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that they would write their articles in the lobby of the government complex if their pressrooms are completely closed.

Each government ministry cut off Internet access to pressrooms on Thursday morning at the request of the Government Information Agency. In the case of the pressroom at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation in the government complex at Gwacheon, both Internet and telephone lines were cut off.

The information agency said that construction to change existing pressrooms to offices will begin early next week.

“Today, we did not block the entry of reporters to give them time to remove their personal belongings. However, their entry will be difficult starting tomorrow morning. Reporters must accept reality and respond in a practical manner,” an official of the agency said.

“Although the journalists are against the government measure cutting off Internet access to the existing pressrooms, the government will continue to implement its scheduled measures,” Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said in a regular press briefing yesterday.

leon@donga.com