hankyoreh

Facing mounting criticism, the Government Information Agency has cancelled a plan that would have obligated reporters to carry electronic chip-embedded identification cards so as to analyze their movements and monitor the overall use of its press room.

“We had considered tagging electronic chips to ID cards of individual reporters but canceled the plan,” an agency official said. “The chips were designed to monitor reporters checking in and out of our press room only.”

Reportedly, the agency assigned a budget for the introduction of the electronic chip-embedded identification cards, which were estimated to cost around 30 million won to 40 million won each.

The plan hit an obstacle, however, when the weekly Media Today wrote an article on it, prompting criticism among reporters that it could infringe upon their privacy.

“With the electronic chips, the agency could monitor the movement of individual reporters, which could be used in controlling them in and out of their press room,” said an official of the Citizen’s Coalition of Democratic Media. “This is a prime example of the government pushing for a policy only for its own convenience.”

Media groups also voiced their criticism, calling the introduction of the electronic chips a “very dangerous” idea designed to collect reporters’ private information and abuse it to control their activities.

The controversy erupted as the government is accelerating its efforts to consolidate press rooms at its major agencies, a move that it claims would enhance the effectiveness of journalism. Journalists, however, are voicing opposition to the plan, saying that it could severely restrict the freedom of press, thereby hindering the public’s right to know.

Recently, reporters covering the Labor, Construction and Foreign Ministries adopted resolutions in which they threatened to boycott any press briefings arranged under the government’s press room consolidation plan.

On August 20, the National Police Agency decided to shut down its press room and instead establish the so-called “article-sending room” at its headquarters, located at a place far away from the agency. The decision prompted a fierce outcry from reporters, who suspect that the move is designed to block access to information and hamper the media’s role of monitoring any possible corruption in government agencies.