The order was issued even as the Constitutional Court deliberates several challenges to controversial new press laws, including petitions by the Chosun Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo. The Korea Commission for the Press inaugurated in November recently issued an official notice to 140 newspapers across the country asking them to declare between May 15 and 30 "circulation and paid circulation, reader and advertising revenues, share details, and details of shareholders holding a stake of 5 percent or more." The declaration form issued with it then requires newspaper publishers to declare not only circulation and paid circulation but also circulation by region and bureau, bureau address, distribution area, plus the personal details and contact details of bureau chiefs. The commission will verify the data and publish them on its website.

But such information, experts say, is only required of government agencies and state-run firms. "This means the government is demanding that private businesses submit all details about their clients," said Dr. Choi Sung-no at the Center for Free Enterprise. "Not even government-financed agencies submit such detailed information." If the data is leaked to rival firms or used by the Korea Newspaper Circulation Serivce and other agencies, newspaper firms could sustain substantial losses.

Experts say it is also unconstitutional for the government to simply stipulate the scope of the business data to be submitted by newspapers in the declaration form rather than in any law. The Newspaper Law only calls for newspapers to make public their total circulation and paid circulation, and the enforcement decree specifies, “Data declaration shall follow a written format issued by the Korea Commission for the Press." But that format then demands detailed data not mentioned in the law. "It violates the constitutional ban on blanket legislation if you demand information capable of infringing on businesses' basic rights not under a law but under an enforcement decree," said Prof. Chang Young-soo of the Korea University College of Law.

Under the Commercial Law, companies submit annual audit reports to the Financial Supervisory Commission and publish financial documents including their balance sheet. They declare various management data to the National Tax Service as well. Experts say requiring newspaper publishers alone to submit additional information violates the constitutional principle of equality.

Nowhere else in the world do the personal details of shareholders or company staff who hold a stake over 5 percent have to be disclosed, experts note. "This demand is derived from the Stock Exchange Law stipulating that companies must declare any stake over 5 percent to protect investors in listed firms. But it’s excessive and without clear legal grounds to apply that to unlisted businesses," said Park Yang-kyoon with the Center for Free Enterprise.

Critics say the government attempts to divide the press into “them” and “us” using the Newspaper Law as a stick to weaken the critical function of the press and using financial aid in the form of the circulation centers and other agencies as a carrot. "The Newspaper Law reduces the freedom of business activities by imposing a duty to disclose excessive management information," said attorney-at-law Lee Seok-yon. "This demand for disclosure of business secrets from newspapers is a ploy to intervene in the public opinion market." The government will have a hard time countering criticism that it is trying to drive a wedge between media outlets in this way and to punish newspapers that do not follow its instructions.

(englishnews@chosun.com )