Roh Strikes Back at 'Colluding' Reporters
Chosun Ilbo, January 17, 2007
President Roh Moo-hyun Tuesday vented his frustrations with journalists and opposition parties who have suggested that recent government announcements were simply calculated efforts to lure voters ahead of the upcoming elections. Such reports, President Roh said, were the result of collusion among reporters.
Making a play on words, the president said, “The historical drama ‘Daejoyoung (the founder of the ancient kingdom Balhae in Korean history)’ is on TV. But in reality, in Korean politics, a person called ‘Daesunyong (an abbreviated form of the word daetongryong-sungeo-yong, meaning measures aimed at winning the presidential election)’ has appeared and offended me a lot.”
He went on to say, “They label all the government’s policies as just steps to win favor ahead of the election. The public views and understands the government through a mirror, but that mirror is tarnished and cracked.”
President Roh ordered the Government Information Agency to investigate the local press and to find out how newsrooms work in other countries. He accused some reporters of setting the negative tone in their reports, fictionalizing press releases and colluding.
The president cited two incidents as examples. The first involved reports in morning newspapers on Jan. 13 about the Unification Ministry’s plan to push for another inter-Korean summit this year. The report was based on the Ministry’s internal policy directions for 2007.
The ministry document said that sending a special envoy to the North or holding a highest-level meeting between the two Koreas should be promoted in order to break through the stalemated nuclear situation. The president criticized reporters for making an issue out of a non-existent plan and blaming the government for using the idea to garner votes.
It is hard to believe that journalists didn’t base their reports on the summit on statements from Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong, who have talked about the idea since the start of the year. Furthermore, a Unification Ministry document indicates plans for such a meeting.
President Roh's second example involved a report about the lack of a government plan to finance a recently announced public health promotion program. “It's pathetic," the president said. "The press room has a side effect of standardizing the reports.”
By accusing reporters of collusion, the president appears to believe that almost every news outlet is aligned against him. In his first years in office, President Roh denounced only the Chosun Ilbo. He is now blaming reporters for conspiring against him. He condemned the media as the most resistant group to his efforts to tear down the structure of irregularities, collaboration and back-door dealings among the privileged, one of his top priorities.
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