Chung Sam-kyun, head of the Millennium Democratic Party's Peoples' Participatory Campaign Headquarters Chungnam chapter, said that he would harass the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo if his party won the presidential election, as head of the media section of the transition committee. This statement was ominous despite the party's later announcement that it had dismissed him over the controversial comments.

However, his dismissal does not solve the issues he raised; considering he was head of a group within a party that declared war on the media, it raises concerns of a hidden party agenda that was mistakenly made public. These are heightened when the MDP statement is looked at closely, as it included the phrase "whether they were true or not" with regard to his comments. We would like to ask the MDP if such an atmosphere outlined by Chung, where the more you attack the three newspapers the higher your score from the party leadership, exists in its regional chapters.

As the presidential campaign reaches its closing stages, a complex series of confrontations is taking place not only between the political parties, but also between politicians and the media, newspapers and broadcasters, and between rival newspapers themselves. If this kind of diversification and dispute progress in accordance with rules that can be agreed on between politicians and the media, as in advanced countries, this can be called development, however the situation is otherwise. Politicians and the media are supposed to reach higher level consensuses from different fields are instead factionalizing again, making the people sick and tired.

If a party is going to crush critical newspapers when it wins an election then this is oppression of all the nation's media.

In a democratic society the tension between the press and politics is natural, but there should be certain criteria governing this. Chung's statement far exceeds this and it can be said that the MDP's quick action in removing him was necessary. Furthermore, the party should check itself to see whether such a poisonous atmosphere concerning crushing critical media with its members as this can shake the basis of free democracy.

December 16, 2002