According to an investigation into government agencies’ advertisement orders that was conducted by Grand National Party legislator Lee Jae-woong, OhMyNews has won 17.2 percent, or W84.55 million, of the total advertisement contracts issued by the government for news specialized websites in 2003, beating major daily newspaper websites and taking first place. In 2002, OhMyNews won 2.4 percent, or W8.25 million, of the total contracts worth W342 million.

It has been revealed that the concentration of government advertisement contracts on the OhMyNews has been growing intense. Until August, OhMyNews won 20.7 percent, or W111 million, of the total government advertisement contracts allotted to news websites.

Meanwhile, pro-President Roh Moo-hyun Internet radio station Radio 21 won government advertisement contracts worth W49.7 million. Uri Party deputy spokesperson Kim Gap-soo is the former chief executive officer of the online radio station. When the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company advertised the safety of nuclear waste facilities in 2003, it paid W20 million to Radio 21, while giving W1.9~3 million to major portal websites like Naver and Yahoo, almost 10 times less than that of the online broadcaster.

In contrast, major daily newspapers like Chosun Ilbo, Joongang Ilbo and Donga Ilbo, which are critical of the incumbent government, have been receiving fewer advertisement orders from government agencies, since the Roh administration took office. In 2002, the Chosun Ilbo won 21.3 percent of the total government internet advertisement orders and took first place, followed by the Donga Ilbo with 15.9 percent and the Joongang Ilbo with 14.4 percent. But in 2003, Donga Ilbo and Joongang Ilbo held third and fourth places, while the Chosun Ilbo was not on the top 10 list. This year, Yonhap News and iNews 24.com have taken second and third places, following OhMyNews. The Joongang Ilbo and Donga Ilbo have remained in sixth and eighth place.

The government’s internet advertisement orders have rapidly increased. They grew 69.9 percent from about W1 billion in 2002 to W1.7 billion in 2003. Until August this year, advertisement orders worth about W1.51 billion were executed. Lawmaker Lee Jae-woong said, “Government advertisement orders have been excessively concentrated on the pro-ruling party OhMyNews. It is necessary to concretely identify the effects of those advertisements.”

(engllishnews@chosun.com )