No substance without facts

Even if the opposition wants to impeach the president and arrest the first lady, the decision should be based on facts, not allegations.

Kim Hyun-kiThe author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo. In October 2016, when I delivered a lecture to Korean students at George Washington University, one of them asked me quite a provocative question. “As a journalist, don’t you feel any responsibility for the fake news overflowing in the media?” he asked. I answered, “Expressions like ‘fake news’ are not appropriate. Fake news is just a misreport.” I probably answered that way out of my strong conviction that such substandard reporters and reports don’t exist in the mainstream media.

But an avalanche of groundless news reports about former President Park Geun-hye in the lead-up to her impeachment in December 2016 after the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry in April 2014 made me regret what I told those university students in Washington D.C. Let me just go back to the tumultuous period eight years ago.

First, when addressing the “seven hours” of the president’s absence during and after the ferry sinking, many media outlets reported that she had received “a drug injection” or enjoyed “a secret affair” or allowed “a shaman to perform a ritual” in the Blue House even during the tense hours. Liberal media outlets and four general programming TV channels reproduced such baseless news every day. A leftist reporter even raised the possibility of her “using Viagra pills and drugs” and “the apparent appearance later of a tape of the clandestine affair.” The mysterious seven hours were eventually included in the special motion to impeach President Park. A special prosecutor later found all the accusations wrong. But no news media outlet ran a correction.

Second, a majority of media outlets reported that the “unification jackpot” — mentioned by the president during her New Year’s press conference in 2014 — was actually the idea of Choi Soon-sil, her close confidante. Some news media even reported that Choi had been involved in the Park administration’s North Korea policy. The president was perceived as Choi’s avatar. But it turned out that the idea came from a Chung-Ang University professor’s book titled “Unification is a Jackpot.”

Third, a media outlet reported that Choi had continued paying for the president’s clothes, as her hidden assets amounted to 10 trillion won ($7.4 billion) at the time. The report effectively consolidated the theory of “a common economic community” between the two, as specified in the impeachment. A special prosecutor looked into Choi’s wealth, but she had only 22.8 billion won. No hidden money was discovered, either. Could such media outlets really say that there were simply “misreports,” not malicious “fake news?”

Pundits often say, “While Korean reporters gather one story and blow it up by 100 times, their Japanese counterparts collect 100 stories and use less than one for one article.” An exciting piece of news suddenly turns into “an exclusive” in the Korean media, but even news briefs are abandoned by the Japanese media once they are found “not true” through an arduous crosschecking process. That difference suggests a lot.

The Korean media circles naively dancing to the tune of Myung Tae-kyun — the self-proclaimed “political broker” — make us reflect on ourselves. An official at the presidential office reportedly told him, “As you significantly contributed to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s election victory, you can sell the names of the president and the first lady.” But the power broker said, “I can’t remember the name and title of the official,” according to an interview. He also said, “As the president will be impeached in a month, could the prosecution really handle me?” But in just a day, the power broker said, “That was just a joke.” Should the media listen to such a person without any crosschecking? Our media hasn’t changed over the past eight years. They rush to report out of the hope that at least one of their hastily produced news will be true.

The press certainly has the duty to keep watch on the powers that be. But news reporting only aimed at dragging down those in power is dangerous. The majority opposition even launched a headquarters to oust President Yoon — and the first lady — for any wrongs they allegedly committed over the past two and half years. Even if the opposition wants to impeach the president and arrest the first lady, the decision should be based on facts, not allegations. That’s common sense for a normal country.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.