hankyoreh

There is a problem with the Unification Ministry’s recent decision to disallow article exchanges between the South Korean media outlets Tongil Eollon and the North Korean news site Uri Minjok Kkiri. Not only were the reasons cited by the ministry too vague, a comparison with other examples of article exchanges already taking place also shows that it goes against fairness. It is a more severe problem if the government adopted this measure out of a sense of aversion toward the June 15 Joint Declaration.

As the reason for its decision, the Unification Ministry cited “concerns about harm to national security, public welfare and public order.” This presentation of comprehensive reasons without offering specific grounds is like something out of the military dictatorship era. Article exchanges are something that should be actively encouraged even according the government’s own North Korea policy of mutual benefits and common prosperity. The ministry went on to say that article exchanges “could serve as North Korea’s window to send messages to the South.” They used a Cold War view of North Korea to judge media activities intended to promote inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation and contribute to forming the conditions for unification through commentary and the communication of accurate information.

In addition to the right to permit media exchange activities, the Unification Ministry also has the authority to review particular articles. This means that every time an article provided by the North is printed in the South Korean media, the government censors it beforehand. Thus, it has ample opportunity to make judgments on individual articles even after it has permitted article exchange activities, and all South-North article exchanges currently take place in this way. That such hard-line measures were taken despite this fact can only be seen as the functioning of intentions at a level beyond the Unification Ministry.

Tongil Eollon is an Internet newspaper established in December 2007 by the media headquarters of the South Korean Committee for the Realization of the June 15 Joint Declaration. Established media groups participate in the media headquarters, including the Journalists’ Association of Korea, the National Union of Journalists, the Korea Producers’ Association, the Korean Association of Internet Journalists, and the New Press Forum. Thus, the Tongil Eollon article exchange is an exceedingly normal media activity undertaken by responsible journalists. As such, it is not unreasonable that many are claiming this measure originated from an irrational aversion to the June 15 declaration. If one considers the fact that Seoul’s contempt for the June 15 declaration is one of the main reasons inter-Korean relations have deteriorated since the Lee Myung-bak administration took office, this is very worrisome indeed.

The government should withdraw this measure. It is of no help whatsoever to inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation for narrow-minded standards to be forced upon private exchanges. Furthermore, it should make clear its intention of adhering to the inter-Korean declarations of June 15 and October 4 so that there are no instances where it says in its words that it respects the declaration, but goes backwards in reality.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]