Grand National Party spokesman Kwon Chul-hyun called Wednesday for the government to promptly cancel of the Fair Trade Commission's newspaper directives, which he labelled a blatant attempt to control and oppress the press. Kwon said that the administration was being hypocritical in its complaints to Japan about a controversial distorted history text book, when it was attempting to distort media coverage in the same manner as the Japanese colonial government did in the past.

He continued that the FTC's attempts to introduce directives controlling circulation and advertizing, despite the refusal of the Regulatory Reform Committee to endorse them was a clear case of arrogance backed by the president. Kwon said that the fact that the FTC resubmitted virtual identical documents to the RRC without public consultation, just seeking the tacit agreement of special interest groups, was evidence that the government was conducting an all out war to muzzle the press.

The vice president of the United Liberal Democrats Han Young-soo raised this issue at a party staff meeting saying that the tax investigations of the National Tax Service and newspaper directives were definitely a case of oppression. Han said that while the ULD was in a coalition with the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, it bore no responsibility for the attempts at press control. He called on party members to study the affair and halt any irregularities.

Kim Hyun-wook, a former ULD assemblyman said that the NTS and FTC actions were now the subject of international condemnation and so the party should take immediate action. Kim noted that Leonard Sussman, chief researcher at Freedom House and a supporter of President Kim Dae-jung, had said that the tax and fair trade investigations were attempts to control the media. He added that the US Congress had also expressed concerns over press freedom in Korea.

In related news, the RRC decided to review the FTC submission until April 13, as 13 civic members of the 20 strong committee are strongly opposed to the FTC attempt at newspaper control. The RRC has rejected the FTC submission twice, saying that there was no reason to reintroduce the directives, which were scrapped in 1999 as part of deregulation and opening the media to market forces.

Experts note that the FTC has failed to provide a reasonable explanation to the RRC and has only provided information given it by certain, selected self-interest groups.

(Jung Kwon-hyun, khjung@chosun.com )