The Grand National Party said Thursday after an emergency meeting of its Press Freedom Committee Thursday that the government's statements regarding "freedom of the press," "tax justice" and "a fair press" were all lies, as revealed in a recently published book on the operation of Cheong Wa Dae and regional isues. The opposition called for detained newspaper owners to be immediately released.
Seong Han-yong, a political reporter for Hankyoreh (a pro government newspaper) published "Why Kim Dae-jung Failed in Removing Regional Friction," a book on his experiences covering Cheong Wa Dae from the current administration's inauguration to October 2000. The book quotes a variety of high-ranking officials at the presidential office and residence, revealing their advanced knowledge of a tax investigation into the media well before any official pronouncement was made.
The GNP said that the book also showed that people from Honam, the president's power base, were appointed to top posts within the National Tax Service in advance, to take charge of the investigation. It added that opposition members were angry that Cheong Wa Dae officials described the probe as being a "war against the Chosun Ilbo which would determined the fate of the government."
The Millennium Democratic Party called the GNP claims an over simplification and exaggerated, being based on the writings of a single political writer, adding that the issue was pending in the country's courts.
A Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said that the claims that the tax investigation was orchestrated by Cheong Wa Dae were simply untrue, while the author Seong added that newspapers had only quoted lines that suited their purpose.
The following are some quotes from the book relating to the tax probe into the media:
*A Senior Cheong Wa Dae Secretary - August 1998;
"At the moment we will keep an eye on them as media reform must be pursued at any cost, but once it has begun, it will be a war of life and death. Don't talk to anybody, because if this story is released there will be big trouble."
*A Senior Cheong Wa Dae Secretary - November 1998
(Showing a document to the reporter) "Kim Jong-pil played golf with people from the JoongAng Ilbo and earlier had a game with others from the Chosun Ilbo. We will crush the JoongAng Ilbo and Segye Ilbo immediately. The Chosun Ilbo will also receive a similar fate within two to three months. We will turn the media upside down, using an NTS investigation into inheritance tax."
*Document Contents
'If the dispute between the Chosun Ilbo and Hankyoreh over Professor Choi Jang-jip continues it will damage the government. The Professor Choi issue was concocted by the Chosun Ilbo to attack the president, so we have to counter this effectively using it for the cause of media reform." (The Chosun Ilbo raised questions on Choi's ideology, while he was a presidential adviser)
*Cheong Wa Dae Press Secretary - March 15, 2000
"There is no opposition among our field workers to the idea that we must do something after the general elections. However, only the president knows what we should do. I think the president is looking at the timing of when to start."
*Senior Cheong Wa Dae Secretary - January 2001
When we start to intervene with the media companies, then the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo will jump around crazily, but what more can they do than they are already doing. We have no more room for choice. We will start immediately on the reform that the Hankyoreh has been demanding, so don't write about this now; wait for some time."
*A Core Member of the Government
"From now on, newspapers are absolutely free to write what they wish about the government; either criticizing it or favoring it; so we will utilize fully the powers given to us under the law. We have nothing left to lose."
(Song Dong-hoon, dhsong@chosun.com)
See our list of related articles titled
"Press Under Siege."
