President Yoon Seok-yeol attends a briefing session on the realization plan of the digital platform government held at the Blue House guesthouse on the 14th and makes remarks. Presidential Correspondents
On the 14th, the Office of the President said, “If national interests collide with each other, it is the right way for the media to put their own national interests first.” It seems that he expressed his discomfort with media reports digging into the suspicion in a situation where controversy continues over the process of collecting information on South Korea by the United States, its authenticity, and the appropriateness of the government’s response. It is inevitable to point out that the media, whose responsibility is to report facts and monitor power, has revealed a distorted view of the media while assigning the role of ‘protecting the national interest’.
A key official in the presidential office met with reporters at the presidential office building in Yongsan that day and said this, presuming that “freedom of the press does not always coincide with the national interest.” There are times when freedom of speech and national interests conflict, but when national interests collide, it is desirable to prioritize reporting on the national interest of the country.
The official also said, “Not only Korea, but also many countries such as Britain, France, Israel, and Turkey are involved in this case, but it seems that no country is dealing with such a political strife in the political world and in such detail in the media.” . It is read to mean that the media ‘dealing with this issue in detail’ does not serve the national interest. Detailed coverage and reporting on important issues related to national security were considered an act of violating the national interest.
Such remarks contained the perception that in some cases, the media’s criterion for judgment could be ‘national interest’ rather than ‘pursuit of truth’. It seems difficult to avoid criticism for exposing an inappropriate view of the media, meaning that the direction of coverage and reporting can change depending on the ‘national interest priority’. If the national interest becomes the reference point for media coverage, concerns about a reduction in the independence and autonomy of the media may grow. Article 1 of the ‘Journalism Ethics Charter’ states that “the pursuit of truth is the reason for the existence of the press” and there is no mention of ‘protection of the national interest’. An objection can also be raised that the media’s original activities, which dig into problems and reveal improvements, serve the national interest as a result.
In particular, this official’s explanation appears to have an intention to cover up the issue of the current government leaking state secrets through wiretapping by foreign intelligence agencies and to drive the media pointing out this as a group against the national interest. In fact, it is tantamount to threatening to shut up the media pointing out that the government has done damage to the national interest.
The presidential office’s mention of ‘political dispute’ is interpreted to have in mind the security issue of the Yongsan presidential office and the criticism of ‘low posture diplomacy’ that the opposition party is intensively raising. In the official position statement released on the 11th, the Presidential Office also said, “The Democratic Party is in a hurry to incite the people by raising false negative suspicions that wiretapping was done with the’relocation of the President’s Office in Yongsan’ without thinking about whether it is true or not.” This is a ‘self-harm’ and ‘violation of national interest’ that shakes the ROK-US alliance amid North Korea’s constant provocations and nuclear threats.”
Regarding the arrest of a member of the US National Guard for leaking classified documents by the US investigative authorities, the Office of the President said on the same day, “It seems that the overall reality has not been grasped yet.” We have to keep looking,” he said. This key official said, “The leaked information is mostly related to the war in Ukraine, and it is a bit far from the matter of eavesdropping and wiretapping in the Yongsan Presidential Office or any action targeting South Korea, which was initially raised by the media or opposition parties. There are sides,” he said.
