Kim Dong Hyung
Associated Press
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (foreground) speaks to reporters on Nov. 10. He attacked press freedom when his office barred a television broadcaster’s staff from traveling to the press box on his presidential plane because of his allegedly biased reporting, journalists groups said. (Ahn Jung-hwan/Yonhap via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office last week banned staff from a television broadcaster from entering the media pool of the presidential plane, citing biased reporting in an attack on press freedom, journalists groups said.
Yoon earlier accused MBC of undermining the country’s alliance with the United States after it released a video suggesting he insulted U.S. lawmakers after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in New York in September.
Yoon’s office told MBC it would not provide “reporting assistance” to broadcasters during his upcoming trip to Cambodia and Indonesia for meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Group of 20 major rich and developing countries because of what it said were “repetitive distorted and biased reporting”.
Yoon, a conservative who took office in May, doubled down on Nov. 10 on the decision to exclude MBC journalists from his plane, saying “vital national interests” were at stake. Yoon traveled to Cambodia on November 11 for the ASEAN meeting.
“The reason why the president travels abroad with so much taxpayer money is because vital national interests are at stake, which is why we provide reporting assistance to journalists covering foreign and security issues,” Yoon said. “(I) hope the decision can be understood in that light,” he said of keeping the MBC reporters off his plane, which would also keep them from attending in-flight briefings and other media opportunities.
In a statement provided to The Associated Press, MBC said Yoon’s office disregarded press freedom and democratic principles and that it would still send reporters on commercial flights to Cambodia and Indonesia to report on Yoon’s travels in order to serve the “public’s right to know.”
A coalition of journalists’ organizations, including the Korean Journalists Association and the National Federation of Media Workers, issued a statement demanding that Yoon’s office withdraw what they called “unconstitutional and unhistorical restrictions on reporting” and the resignation of presidential officials involved in the decision.
“The presidential plane is run with taxpayer money, and each outlet pays for its coverage with its own money,” they said.
“Reporting and monitoring how the president fulfills his public responsibilities and obligations as a public figure is an important part of democracy. We are shocked that Cheong Wa Dae confuses the use of the presidential plane by reporters with the use of private property and regards it as Yoon Hee-yeol’s personal charity. ,” the statement read.
The groups compared the incident to the White House under former U.S. President Donald Trump suspending the press pass of CNN reporter Jim Acosta after a heated conversation with Trump at a news conference.
Seoul-based newspapers The Hankyoreh and Kyungyang Shimbun voluntarily gave up their seats on Yoon’s plane in protest of what the Hankyoreh called an “undemocratic attempt at media control.” They said their reporters would use commercial flights to cover the conference in Southeast Asia.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Seoul issued a statement saying it “restricted reporting by a media outlet whose ‘distorted’ reporting has raised concerns about press freedom for all at home and abroad.” The tone or nature of that.” In September, MBC recorded Yoon talking to his aides and top diplomats after speaking briefly with Biden on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly meeting. While the audio was unclear, Yoon could be heard using what appeared to be indecent language in the broadcaster’s comments, saying “wouldn’t Biden be too embarrassed if those idiots in the legislature didn’t approve?”
Before Yoon met with Biden, they both gave speeches in support of the Global Fund, an international campaign to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Biden administration has pledged $6 billion in U.S. contributions to the initiative through 2025, but Congress has yet to approve it. Yin’s government has pledged $100 million.
Yin’s office later insisted he was not talking about Congress or Biden. Yoon’s spokesman, Kim Eun-hye, said he was concerned South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly might reject his planned $100 million donation. She insisted that the word MBC heard Biden say was actually “nal-li-myeon,” which can be used to describe something that is thrown away.
Back in Seoul, Yoon said the media could put South Korea’s security at risk by “undermining the alliance with reports that do not match the facts.” He has not yet specified whether he described the South Korean lawmaker as an “idiot.”
Yin’s predecessor has also been accused of suppressing free speech.
Members of former liberal President Moon Jae-in’s ruling party targeted a South Korean Bloomberg reporter in 2019 for what they insisted was a “marginally treasonous” article that put his safety at risk. Liberal President Moon Jae-in faces international criticism. The headline of the article described Moon as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s “supreme spokesman” at the United Nations General Assembly and described his efforts to salvage faltering nuclear diplomacy with North Korea.
Prosecutors under Moon’s conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, have charged a Japanese journalist with defaming her because she was missing on the day a ferry sank in 2014 that killed more than 300 people.
Before Park Geun-hye, former president Lee Myung-bak was criticized for arresting an anti-government blogger and accused of turning major news networks into his mouthpieces, filling their leadership ranks with supporters and making them vie for a handful of new government awards. TV license.
