Transition Committee Confirms Pressrooms to Be Restored

South Korean President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s transition committee made clear Thursday that it would reverse the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s decision to close pressrooms. It said that the administration’s press policy goes against the freedom of press and confirmed that the Lee administration would restore press access to the government.

Committee spokesperson Lee Dong-gwan quoted committee Vice-President Kim Hyung-o at the briefing of the Korean Overseas Information Service (KOIS), saying, “Blocking access to sources and infringing on the right to know is not the way to develop the press. Regardless of the effect it may have on their agency, civil servants have job security, so I want them to come up with aggressive alternatives.”

For the upcoming restructuring of government agencies, the presidential transition committee plans to abolish the agency by eliminating the functions of public affairs and elements of press control, and by consolidating of the public affairs functions with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Spokesperson Lee said that the final decision on the future of KOIS would be reviewed in the framework of the government agency reform as plans to dismantle the agency was a pledge of President-elect Lee.

KOIS came up with two alternative reform plans: 1) to keep the agency for needed PR cooperation and coordination across government agencies; and 2) to maintain the publication service at its current level after consolidated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It opposed plans to dismantle KTV, a state-funded cable television, citing needs to maintain government video archives.

“KOIS has argued that even though its press policy backfired and created controversy, a new system was necessary to match global standards,” Lee said. He added, the agency “admitted that the hostile relationship with the press failed to persuade people about its relevance.”

In response, the transition committee pointed to the agency’s lack of acknowledgement on the freedom of press and directed it to come up with alternatives for the organization’s functions and its press policy, “Measures for Developing an Advanced Media Support System.”

On the restoration of pressrooms, the spokesperson said, “There was no specific discussion today. However, President-elect Lee has repeatedly made it clear to reverse the current policy, and this is also the basic principle of the Grand National Party.”

swpark@donga.com