The Supreme Prosecutors Office announced Tuesday that the person who wrote the "media control documents" found in the home of former director of the Kim Dae-jung Foundation for Peace in the Asia-Pacific Region (KDJF), Lee Su-dong was a Park, a reporter in a Gwangju daily. It continued that Park was asked to do so by an aide to Heo Kyong-man, the governor of Jeonnam Province, also named Park.
According to the SPO the aide asked Park for some ideas on the media to assist the "people's government" implement its policies. Park created two documents for him in his notebook computer in August 1999, following a tax investigation into the JoongAng Ilbo and Segye Ilbo.
One document was titled "The Urgent Need to Reform Major Daily Newspapers to Strengthen the Government's Restructuring and Power," made up of five sections on seven A4 sheets and covered major papers published in Seoul. These covered problems with major shareholders, media weaknesses and methods of reform. The document said it should be carried out in a short time after detailed planning and a collection of excuses to go through with it. It called for power to be given to civic groups by emphasizing the unfairness of excluding the media from reform. In addition it called for emphasis on problems newspapers had by using these groups.
Also it called for the exposure of newspapers' cash flow from chaebol sources they were linked to as a means of fuelling civic outrage.
The second document dealt with local newspapers especially in the Gwangju and Jeonnam Province.
Analysts note the new documents appear crude when compared with those prepared by former Jonng Ang Ilbo reporter Moon Il-hyun.
The following are excerpts from the documents;
*The Urgent Need to Reform Major Daily Newspapers to Strengthen the Government's Restructuring and Power
The management structure and reporting by the media are the biggest hindrance to reform being pushed by the government. They are the most dangerous organizations. Most of the major dailies appear to carry anti-Kim Dae-jung articles as if they were fighting for justice. Considering this behavior, it is likely that the Grand National Party, with which they have had a good relationship, is entertaining them and they are writing beneficial articles based on information the party supplied.
The JoongAng Ilbo and Segye Ilbo have the wrong view about the government, seeing the recent tax probe, an annual event, as a political operation to kill them. A newspaper for the political party, based on class and regionalism is causing damage to the national interest and so to raise competitiveness it is necessary to correct its behavior.
Media reform should be carried out in a short time after enough excuses to do so have been stored up and following a detailed planning stage. To begin with we should give more power to civic groups, including the Federation for Media Reform that have called for media reform so they may act as a vanguard. They should be used to emphasize the inherent weaknesses of the media so that people will understand the need for reform. After creating this atmosphere, the government should select targets for restructuring.
*How To Reform Local Media especially in Gwangju and Jeonnam Province
Only when we reform the local newspapers in Gwangju and Jeonnam Province can we go after the major newspapers in Seoul using this momentum. Since the 1997 financial crisis all media companies have serious financial problems with many being billions of won in debt. This allows local people to own newspapers with a little investment, making them important in their area. We have to gather information about the owners and weaknesses of the companies, and use this to get them to close down "voluntarily, or utilize the prosecution in the end phase.
(Lee Myong-jin, mjlee@chosun.com)
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"Press Under Siege."
