hankyoreh

After running nude pictures of Shin Jeong-ah on September 13, the daily afternoon newspaper Munhwa Ilbo has met with considerable controversy.

Shin has been in the news for allegedly forging her academic credentials, as well as accusations that she had ties to a then-aide of President Roh Moo-hyun.

The discovery "in the home of a leading member of the cultural community" of the "multiple photographs" of Shin standing nude was the Munhwa Ilbo's front page story, although the photos themselves were on page 3 in a related article. The first article quotes an expert in photography, who said that "given there are no marks on her body, the photographs were likely taken long after she had removed her underwear" and that they "give you the feeling they are more like indicators of a 'close relationship' than that they were intended as works" of photographic art.

Two of the pictures were printed with the page 3 article. In one she faces forward, while in the other she has her back turned to the camera. Though most of her body is edited out, her face, arms, and legs are clearly visible, and the article's title is a question, "Can you be prosecuted for lobbying with sex?" The suggestion is that the discovery of pictures of Shin naked establishes that she used sex to get ahead in the art world.

In yet another article titled, "Shin Jeong-ah scandal spreading rapidly," the Munhwa Ilbo alleges "Shin is reported to have had multiple men as lovers, such as a novelist in his thirties and a sculptor."

Women's groups are reacting with anger. Six major women's organizations met hours after the Munhwa Ilbo, which is published in the afternoon, hit newsstands, calling for the newspaper to close its doors.

"The Munhwa Ilbo's coverage comes from a lack of awareness of human rights, is a serious infringement on the rights of women, and is a direct threat to the rights of women," said the organizations in a joint statement. "It should delete the article immediately and issue an official apology. The reporters and editors involved in the story should resign en masse and the newspaper should shut down operations."

"Activists have been unable to calm down since the paper began circulating," said Kim Keum-ok of Korea Women's Associations United. "I feel like I've been raped. This isn't even worth the term 'yellow journalism.' "

Media critics are also criticizing the move, saying it had nothing to do with the original role of the press.

"The article made too big a leap in linking pictures of Shin naked to suspicions she used her body as a bribe," said Inje University professor Kim Chang-ryong. "It was coverage that confused the essence of the issue, since it brought up a nonessential issue tinged with sensationalism."

"The media needs to engage in criticism that makes sense to those involved," said Jeonbuk University professor Kim Seung-su. "When it's like this, you are forced to consider it as a form of human rights abuse by the media."

For most of the day, "Munhwa Ilbo" was the most popular search on Korea's major portal sites, and the paper's decision to run the pictures sparked intense debate in Korean-language cyberspace. Most commenters appeared to take a critical view, saying that whatever Shin's crime, she still has rights that must be respected. Others still claimed the photographs are proof that Shin was active "lobbying" the whole of the art community. At one point, the Munhwa Ilbo's Web site was overwhelmed with hits and had to be restored by the paper's technicians. One government ministry official joked that if daily newspapers cover stories like this one more often, weekly papers -- usually more racy in terms of content -- will not be able to survive.

Even before the Munhwa Ilbo story, the Citizens Coalition for a Democratic Media issued a statement, on August 12, saying that coverage of the scandal surrounding Shin "could be tantamount to a sensationalist infringement on privacy," noting that on August 10 and 11 the country's three major broadcasters were "excessively focused on uncovering any private aspects of the relationship between Shin and [former presidential aide] Byeong Yang-kyoon for entertainment value."