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The president¡¯s PR secretary Cho Ki-sook on Tuesday accused the press of playing to people¡¯s security fears and warned the media ignored the ¡°national interest¡± at their peril.
Cho called a press conference to explain President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s outburst earlier this week against Koreans who are ¡°more pro-American than the Americans.¡± She said parts of the press lapped up the opportunity to accuse the president of trying to divide the people.
¡°The president never labeled any particular group,¡± Cho said. ¡°He was referring to people who engage in particular behavior, so how did he divide the people?¡± She added, ¡°I want to ask who the people dividing the nation are.¡±
Appearing on a radio program earlier, Cho said Americans did not understand how Koreans think. ¡°The biggest reason for this is because the government has failed in its overseas information promotion, but a more important reason is because Koreans fluent in English like scholars and journalists are only discussing their own thoughts [with Americans] rather than speaking for the thoughts of the Korean people.¡±
Asked during the press conference who the ¡°pro-American¡± people were, Cho said, ¡°People who have engaged in particular behavior opposed to the national interest, people who are more pro-American than Americans.¡± Cho called into question the patriotism of people ¡°who make reports that weaken our negotiating strength, and even go as far as to distort facts to make reports that amplify fissures in the Korea-U.S. alliance.¡±
Apart from the press, there were ¡°such people in specialist groups as well,¡± Cho said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen people who go to the U.S. and unilaterally criticize the Roh administration and say that things are the way they are because the Korean people foolishly got caught up in anti-Americanism and elected him president.¡±
Cho said she was ¡°personally pro-American, but I¡¯m not more pro-American than Americans,¡± adding the majority of Koreans were probably like this. Citing reports she felt were problematic, Cho said, ¡°No matter how close two countries may be, opinions can differ even in insignificant negotiations.¡±
Cho said she suspected the media in the past of cashing in on fears over North Korea, and they were now doing the same by playing up disagreements between Korea and the U.S. ¡°One has to doubt whether the attitude of such reports helps the Korea-U.S. alliance or national interest,¡± she added. She said Korea had the twin duties to firmly maintain the Korea-U.S. alliance while engaging in negotiations that reflect ¡°to the greatest extent our national interest.¡± ¡°One has to reflect whether reckless reports that weaken the government¡¯s negotiating power¡¦ are really made for our national interest,¡± she said.
Cho said she did not discuss Tuesday¡¯s press conference with President Roh.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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