#MoonJaein poses a grave threat to free expression. He is not only encouraging personal attacks on this reporter, he is also jailing journalists and intimidating media outlets. He is allowing pro-North Korea thugs to harass reporters. Should we call him #KimJongUn Jr? https://t.co/bcF2D8zUgW
Over at the East Asia Research Center, Dr. Tara O has a posting up about a question to President Moon asked by reporter Kim Ye-ryeoung (김예령) who works Kyonggi Broadcast Corporation. Some believe this question is inappropriate to ask a President:
[You said you will] create a society in which a dragon emerges from a sewer [rags to riches], but I believe you know well that in reality, the public opinion is chilly. The reality is that the economy is stagnant. The people are suffering a lot. They have not given up hope, but they’re very anxious about the future. Related to this, Mr. president, you have emphasized ‘I’m looking at it very seriously.’ Despite this, Mr. President, [you] have not altered the basic direction of the policy and have not changed, and I’d like to know the reasons. I’m asking directly, where does that confidence come from and what is the basis for it?
I’ve spent the last 30 minutes of today’s press conference explaining why we need the current economic policy and that the sustainable growth is impossible without changing the structure, including polarization [the gap increasing between the high income and the low income groups] and inequality. For that we need to take whatever supplemental measures we need to take, but I already amply said why. On the contrary, we need to continue the current policy. I don’t feel we need a new answer.
Journalist Kim’s question has caused a controversy in South Korea. Various comments online have attacked her for being “rude” to ask such questions to President Moon while others cheered her for asking what has been on their minds. Here are some responses:
You can read the responses at the link, but the usual suspects have criticized her by calling her “drunk”, “defiant”, “incompetent”, and that she needs to “study more”. I don’t see what the problem is with asking the President why he won’t change a policy that is not working. I think the real anger is that since KBC is a privately owned news network the Korean left has been able to take control of it like they did with the public broadcasters.
Prosecutor Hong Seong-joon asked for 5 years jail for journalist Byun Hee-jai, already jailed prior to trial. For libel! This shouldn't be prosecuted at all, much less 5 yrs. Not guilty would delegitimize #MoonJaein govt. Breakdown in #RuleOfLaw. Suppression of #FreedomofthePresshttps://t.co/qhMbVnPgzT
The Executive Editor for the Hankyoreh, Kim Jong-gu has written an open letter to the New York Times complaining about their bias against President Trump:
Kim Jong-gu
But as I read the newspaper’s reporting, I discovered that the Times’ reputation wasn’t grounded in fact. The pages of the newspaper were swamped with articles that openly supported Kerry. I also sincerely wanted Bush to lose the race, but the Times’ one-sided reporting made the allegations of bias in the South Korean press look like small potatoes. (…………….)
As a South Korean citizen, however, I can’t help noticing a paradox: President Trump’s outsider status, his profound hostility to the foreign policy establishment, and his gambler-like drive to win have in fact improved the chances of peace on the Korean Peninsula. I find Trump’s unfiltered language, his wild behavior and his arrogant egotism as disgusting as anyone else. But there’s one thing for which he deserves credit, and that’s his boldness in negotiating with North Korea.
The Times is widely regarded as a progressive-leaning newspaper. Progressives believe in peace; they believe in reconciliation and win-win arrangements, not confrontation and quarrels. Obviously, it will be very difficult to bring about North Korea’s denuclearization and impossible to predict the outcome. Just as obviously, it’s the job of the press to offer a clear-headed analysis of these efforts and raise concerns when they fall short. [Hankyoreh]
You can read more at the link, but it is a bit laughable that the Hankyoreh is complaining about bias when they are well known for being the most left wing biased major newspaper in South Korea.
I did find this statement quite entertaining from the article: “Progressives believe in peace; they believe in reconciliation and win-win arrangements, not confrontation and quarrels.” Are South Korean conservative journalists thrown in jail for disagreeing with President Moon a sign of liberal “reconciliation”? Is using labor unions to attack conservatives something that should be considered non-confrontational? I could go on and on about the hypocrisy in the article which just shows the Hankyoreh should be the last newspaper in South Korea to complain about bias anywhere else.
Dr. Taro O has an update on the prosecution of South Korean journalist Byun Hee-jae who was jailed for writing something true. The crux of the matter really comes to the authenticity of the PC Tablet that led to the impeachment of former President Park:
It turned out, according to the prosecutor’s own forensic report, that the tablet PC was not legitimate evidence of the alleged activity. There were no edited files in the tablet, despite JTBC’s claims, which said Choi carried the tablet PC around and edited documents, including the Dresden speech. Incidentally, Park gave the Dresden speech on March 18, 2014. The Dresden speech file found in the tablet was loaded onto the tablet on March 27, 2018, which is after the fact, and it was a .gif file. Additionally, the tablet did not even have editing software (HWP software), so there was no capability to edit the Korean language document. (17:11) The records show that there was software for viewing only, which was loaded in November 2012 and was used to view documents until January 2013, and nothing after that, until 8 a.m., October 18, 2016–8 hours before JTBC “found” the tablet. (17:11)
The forensic report was 700 pages long and difficult to understand. (Byun, 119) The report findings were inconclusive as to who owned the tablet. In fact, the tablet was set up by Kim Han-soo (김한수),former Blue House executive officer. Kim Han-soo went to SK Telecom on June 22, 2012 and opened an account for the tablet under his company’s name “Malay Company.” (1:23) This was around the time of the presidential elections. On October 8, 2017, Shin Hye-won (신혜원) came forward to say the tablet is hers–that she was the primary user. Shin worked on then-candidate Park Geun-hye’s campaign in 2012. She saw in the media various photos, documents, and phone numbers found in the tablet and recognized them. Even Ko Young-tae (고영태), a key witness who helped the special prosecutor during the impeachment trial, stated “I understand that she [Choi] is not the type of person who can use a tablet PC,” placing doubt on the claim that the tablet belongs to Choi or that she used it. Choi has also said the tablet does not belong to her, that she does not even know how to use it, that she has never even seen the tablet in question, and asked to see the tablet. (1:40) The court never showed her the tablet. (1:54)
Despite these and other facts that raise serious questions about the integrity of JTBC’s claim that the tablet is Choi’s and that Choi edited the documents, thereby “having the monopoly of the state affairs”–Gukjeong Nongdan–the National Assembly used the tablet as the “evidence” to impeach Park. Thus Park was impeached based on an absurd, illogical accusation incited by JTBC and the media that stirred up the Korean people’s passions. [East Asia Research Center]
Byun Hee-jai has asked judge Park Joo-young for further examination of the tablet to try to determine who it belongs to. Of seven witnesses Byun asked for, the judge allowed only two journalists from JTBC–Seo Bokyun (서복현) and Cho Taek-soo (조택수), and rejected Choi Seo-won, Shin Hye-won, Ko Young-tae, Kim Hans-soo, and No Seung-gwon (노승권) (former prosecutor who lied that the file was in the tablet when it was not) as witnesses. (1:15) It seems pretty clear that the tablet does not belong to Choi. At minimum, there are serious questions whether the tablet is Choi’s or not. As stated above, the prosecutor’s report is inconclusive. Yet prosecutor Hong Seong-joon maintains that the tablet belongs to Choi Seo-won.
If the verdict is not reached by the expiration date of the trial, which is early December, Byun must be released from jail. (1:45) There are signs that the trial is being rushed in order to reach a decision prior to that date–the judge rejected other requests from the accused, including putting the key witnesses on the stand, as stated above, and not allowing an examination to try to determine who owns the tablet. The judge seems set to make a decision without hard evidence.
I recommend reading the whole article at the link, but the Moon administration has been able to silence the Druking investigation into online opinion tampering, so I would not be surprised if they are able to silence Byun Hee-jae and other conservative journalists reporting on the Tablet PC as well through the libel laws. I hope I am pleasantly surprised and the judge drops the charges against Byun, but I guess we will see what happens in the coming weeks.
Via a reader tip comes a video of journalist and author Gordon Chang recently giving a speech to the National Press Club about the Moon administration’s attacks on the freedom of speech in South Korea. He also discusses the current security situation on the Korean peninsula.
Dr. Tara O, one of my favorite Korea analysts, has an article published about the prosecution and eventual conviction of a cartoonist and journalist which is just another example of the war on conservative journalists by the Moon administration:
Cartoon that led to libel conviction.
On September 11, 2018, the prosecutor proposed a 1-year sentence each for Mr. Yoon Seo-in, a cartoonist, and Mr. Kim Se-ui, a journalist, for libel at the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court presided by judge Choi Mi-bok (최미복).
This libel lawsuit follows another libel lawsuit against a journalist, Mr. Byun Hee-jae, for defaming JTBC, a cable TV broadcaster. JTBC aired the tablet PC story, which played a crucial role in the former president Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. Byun has called out JTBC’s tablet PC story as fabricated. Byun’s characterization was corroborated by the special prosecutors’ own forensic report. However, Byun was sued for libel, and the Seoul Central District Court jailed Byun prior to trial. It is an unusual move to jail a journalist in South Korea, especially prior to a trial, although numerous political opponents have been jailed prior to trial since early 2017. Byun’s trial is currently underway.
Another worrisome event is that Moon’s Deoburreo Minju Party has submitted a “broadcast law reform” bill to regulate individuals who post videos on Youtube and other video sites as “mass media.” If this bill becomes law, then the individuals who post videos become “subject to government review” and if it does not like them, the government can “simply get rid of them,” criticized National Assemblyman Kim Jin-tae, Liberty Korea Party. This is after the Moon administration, along with Media Workers’ Union, took control over major broadcasters MBC and KBS. [East Asia Research Center]
You can read the whole thing at the link, but just like Byun Hee-jae who was jailed for writing something true, Yoon and Kim put together a cartoon that was true and were convicted.
Seoul court fined a cartoonist Yoon Seo-in & journalist Kim Se-ui $6,150 each over a satire cartoon in a libel suit. The Moon administration dislikes them for speaking out about Moon's policy toward North Korea, economy, security, etc. #FreedomofSpeechhttps://t.co/hnRwcLCCUO
An interesting fact from the article was how the South Korean media that was taken over by the Korean left through labor union violence, has slanted their coverage of the story. Even more interesting is that MBC after being taken over then had the architect of the phony US beef riots of 2008 put in charge as President.
You would think with the jailing and fining of journalists the international media would be rushing to cover this, but for one minor New York Times article there has been little coverage of this.
Could you imagine what the reaction would be from mainstream journalists if the Trump administration cracked down on fake news put out by liberal websites? The Moon administration does this against conservative websites and there is not a peep so far about it from so called journalists:
Justice Minister Park Sang-ki called on prosecutors Tuesday to crack down on fake news, saying the spread of false information undermines public trust in society and can lead to serious political and economic damages. (……)
Opposition parties fired at Lee, saying the Moon Jae-in administration was out to suppress freedom of speech.
In a Justice Ministry press release Tuesday, Park ordered prosecutors to crack down on fake news and track whoever was responsible for its production and distribution. In cases in which serious falsehoods are clear, prosecutors were told to “actively start” investigations even before a formal complaint had been submitted to them.
The Justice Ministry said it planned to collect cases that local courts ruled to have been fake news and pass them on to the police, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Communications Standards Commission in order to request assistance in deleting them from the internet, monitoring any further spread and educating society about their false nature.
The Justice Ministry denied Park’s orders amounted to a violation of freedom of speech, saying authorities were trying to tackle the spread of fake information, which actually “disturbs” the public’s right to know and “threatens the sphere of democratic public debate.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
What makes this crackdown even more dubious is that the Druking Scandal that linked the Moon administration to election manipulation through false comment liking software has quietly went away.
