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The deputy director of the Government Information Service, Jung Soon-kyun, created a furore last month with the journalist-bashing article he contributed to the Asian Wall Street Journal. But the service has washed its hands of the matter without disciplining him, and only issuing a warning to one working-level official.
In response, the Journalists Association of Korea denounced how the service handled the case, saying it was proof of the conventional wisdom that those in power can get away with anything.
¡°As we witness the outdated authoritarian practice of passing the buck onto low-ranking officials, we feel deep regret,¡± the association said in a statement.
Jung stirred up a controversy last month by claiming in his contribution to the Wall Street Journal that many Korean journalists tend to neglect fact-checking responsibilities when they write articles, and that Korean government officials regularly offer treats and money to influential journalists.
The service later said that it made mistakes in translating the original Korean version to English. An official later explained that because Jung was not directly involved in the translation process, he was spared disciplinary punishment.
(Han Jae-hyun, rookie@chosun.com )
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