|
When part of a spinal column, which is considered a risk material for mad cow disease, was found during an inspection of imported U.S. beef on Wednesday, I was tipped off to the fact around 8 p.m. that day. To confirm the story, I called several officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry one after the next.
The director-general of the ministry's livestock bureau and the director of the relevant division under the bureau, both in charge of the issue, didn't answer my calls at all. Eventually I got through to an official in the public relations division, but he could only tell me that his division hadn't confirmed the facts yet.
I tried calling the secretary of Park Hong-soo, the agriculture minister, but all he said was that he wasn't with the minister just then. Officials with the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, the agency in charge of inspections, didn't answer my calls and eventually just shut off their cell phones.
I made more than 60 phone calls that day, but I received no official confirmation from the Ministry of Agriculture. I ended up having to write a vague story that a material "presumed" to be part of a spinal column had been found. By that time, I later learned, the ministry had finished its inspection and confirmed that the finding actually was spinal column.
At 10 a.m. the following day, the ministry held a press conference and announced the suspension of inspections of U.S. beef after the discovery of a vertebral column. By then the ministry had refused to answer reporters' requests to confirm the fact -- which the ministry had confirmed to itself -- for 14 hours. That's how long it took to deliver accurate information to the public.
When reporters protested the ministry's refusal to confirm the situation earlier, Minister Park casually instructed his underlings to "answer your phones." The director-general of the bureau made some flimsy excuse. "It's possible I may have left my cell phone behind," he said, "or it may have been difficult for me to answer the phone..." The director of the division simply said, "I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls."
Despite public opposition, the government went ahead with its plan to merge the briefing rooms at government agencies and ban access to government officials. "Don't worry," it told us in the meantime, "we'll disclose as much information as possible." But in light of this latest situation, it seems clear that the government has decided to disclose only the information that it wants to reveal.
This column was contributed by Kum Won-sub from the Chosun Ilbo's Business Desk.
|
