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A Cabinet meeting chaired by President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday gave the green light to the merger of press rooms in 37 government agencies into just a handful of high-tech press centers. The government will establish what it bills as ¡°advanced news coverage support¡± so reporters can cover their beats without actually having to visit the agencies, but critics say that is an attempt to keep the media at arm¡¯s length.
The press rooms and transmission offices in 37 government agencies will be merged into combined briefing rooms at the government complexes in Seoul, Gwacheon, and Daejeon. Cheong Wa Dae, the Defense Ministry and the Financial Supervisory Commission will retain their separate briefing rooms because of their locations and unique functions. The briefing rooms at the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and provincial offices and those of the National Police Agency and provincial agencies will also be merged into one each. Press rooms at eight police stations in Seoul will be shut.
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President Roh Moo-hyun salutes the national flag before a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday.
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For the government complex in central Seoul, a combined briefing center will be established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The briefing center will be used by a total of 16 government agencies including the Office of the Prime Minister and the ministries of foreign affairs and trade, education, unification, and government administration and home affairs. The briefing center at the complex in Gwacheon will be used by 10 agencies such as the ministries of finance and economy, health and welfare, and planning and budget.
Construction is to start on June 30, and the new system will be in place in August. The government is also apparently working out measures to prevent reporters from turning up at government agencies without permission. There are suggestions that the policy will toughen measures already in place since 2003 to prevent reporters from contacting government officials and visiting their offices. Registered reporters who carry electronic passes will be allowed into the briefing rooms, it said, but not into government offices or buildings.
Government Information Agency chief Kim Chang-ho said reporters ¡°will not be prevented from visiting government officials if they have appointments and follow proper procedure." But in case they do, they have to submit to having all their conversations with officials recorded, effectively putting an end to off-the-record comments from officials.
Journalist and constitutional experts were aghast, saying the measures could seriously hurt people's right to know through a virtual gag rule. The government pledged to relay briefings via videolink so reporters need not visit government agencies to gather news, and to put an e-briefing system in place whereby a spokesman would answer questions via the Internet.
Ruling and opposition presidential contenders were unanimous in slamming the decision and urged the government to reconsider. Grand National Party frontrunner Lee Myung-bak said, "My opinion isn¡¯t greatly different from what journalists are thinking." His main GNP rival Park Geun-hye said the plan ¡°stands in the way of people's right to know. The people have the right to know what is happening in government agencies, which helps transparent government."
Sohn Hak-kyu, widely tipped as a contender for the ruling camp, said, "The government should reconsider the policy in order to guarantee the people¡¯s right to know. Reporters can't gather news freely if the government controls the channels for news coverage." Uri hopeful Chung Dong-young said, "The government should neither blame the press for news nor impose a gag rule on them. I definitely oppose the policy to close press rooms." Rival Kim Geun-tae said the plan was ¡°highly likely block people's access to information, and this is going to weaken the media's monitoring function."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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