hankyoreh

Representatives of South Korea's major news organizations Thursday sent a statement of protest to President Roh Moo-hyun, denouncing Roh's plan to shut down pressrooms at almost all government agencies in August for encroaching upon people's right to know.

In the statement forwarded to presidential chief of staff Moon Jae-in, the reporters of 36 newspapers and broadcasters, all belonging to the Journalists Association of Korea (JAK), insisted that the Roh government is trying to keep the people in the dark about undesirable goings-on inside the government.

"The latest government measure may be intended to control the flow of information. The reporters will strongly resist the planned closure of government pressrooms to secure people's right to know," the statement read.

"A torture death of a student activist by police about two decades ago was made public not through a police briefing, but by a slip of the tongue by a senior police officer who was talking to a reporter. The incident testifies to the importance of reporters' freedom to contact news sources," it said.

Meanwhile, the JAK issued a separate statement earlier in the day, urging the government to refrain from responding emotionally to critical media reports. The JAK statement came after the Unification Ministry banned the vernacular JoongAng Ilbo from covering the inter-Korean ministerial talks under way in Seoul after the mass circulation daily ran a story critical of the ministry's pressroom shutdown.

Under apparent instructions from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, the country's two financial watchdogs, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, also banned reporters from contacting officials in person.

On Tuesday, Roh said that he was willing to entirely shut down all government office pressrooms if local media continue to resist the government's plan to consolidate hundreds of pressrooms into half a dozen pressrooms and briefing rooms.

In announcing the pressroom reform policy a week ago, the government said several pressrooms, including those at Cheong Wa Dae and the Defense Ministry, would remain open due to their unique characteristics, while all others would be closed and consolidated into half a dozen briefing rooms.

Roh and the media have maintained uncomfortable relations since his inauguration in February 2003. The president and his aides have constantly accused local media of underestimating and even distorting the government's accomplishments related to the economy, diplomacy and North Korea policy.
SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap News)