"관료,기자에 정기적으로 돈봉투"-국정홍보 차장

[edaily 국제부] 국정홍보처 정순균 차장은 아시안월스트리트저널(AWSJ) 온라인판 22일자 기고문을 통해 "노무현 대통령의 언론소송은 정부와 언론의 오랜 유착관행을 바로잡고 투명한 관계를 설정해야 한다는 절실한 필요에서 비롯된 것"이라고 주장했다. 정 차장은 이 글에서 많은 한국 기자들이 중요한 사실관계를 제대로 확인하지 않고 기사를 작성하곤 함으로써 개인의 명예와 사생활을 훼손하고 사업상의 피해를 입힌다고 밝혔다. 또 정부 관료들이 각 부처별로 영향력이 있다고 여겨지는 기자들에게 술과 식사를 대접하고 정기적으로 돈봉투를 건넸다고 소개했다. 정 차장은 정부의 소송 제기가 이같은 관행을 바로잡는 동시에 악의적으로 날조된 기사에 대응하기 위한 "대담한 개혁조치"의 일부이며 몇몇 언론과 학자들이 이를 언론탄압으로 과장하고 있다고 역설했다. 정 차장의 이번 기고는 18일자 아시안월스트리트저널에 실린 "노무현 대통령과 언론"이라는 제목의 사설에 대한 반박문 형식으로 게재된 것이다. 당시 아시안월스트리트저널은 노무현 대통령의 언론사에 대한 손해배상 청구소송이 언론의 자유를 제한할 수 있다는 우려를 표시했었다. 다음은 AWSJ에 실린 기고문 원문. Standing Up to the Press in Korea I refer to your Aug. 18 editorial, "President Roh vs. the Press," and wish to address why the Korean government is waging war against the misguided practices of the press and President Roh Moo Hyun has filed a libel suit against some newspapers. The government action was necessitated by the dire need to correct the long-standing collusion between the government and the press and to set up new transparent relations. President Roh defines it as "healthy relations of tension" vis-a-vis the press. Many Korean reporters tend to file a report without first checking and confirming important points, resulting in damaged personal reputations, infringement of privacy and business losses. This is evidenced by the fact that 80% of the government"s request for correction or rebuttals were found to be valid during the past five months. Many government officers used to subscribe to the early-morning issues of daily newspapers to see if there were any unfavorable stories, so that they could call the editors before the main issue came out. The officials curried various favors with the media, maintained a select group of supposedly influential reporters at each government agency, wined and dined them, and regularly handed them envelopes of cash. In order to rectify these wrong practices as well as establish a new wholesome relationship between the government and the press, the Roh Moo Hyun administration is launching a set of bold reforms. One measure was to disband the exclusive group of reporters assigned to Cheong Wa Dae -- the office of the president -- and various government ministries and agencies and institute a regular briefing system, open to all media representatives. Other actions involved banning government agencies from subscribing to early morning editions of daily newspapers and prohibiting bureaucrats from making improper contacts with reporters. On the other hand, the government is providing sufficient access to news sources. The policy of the incumbent administration is to respond boldly and in a lawful manner to obviously erroneous articles as well as malicious and concocted reports. Some media and journalism scholars allege that this represents oppression of the press. But I have to make clear that the government has never lost faith in freedom of the press. In the sense that freedom of expression, especially criticism against a government, constitutes the essence of freedom of the press, that very freedom is blossoming under the current administration more so than under any previous administration or even anywhere in the world. The government"s responses to incorrect reports are being made openly, in accordance with the constitution and law. It is time the old abuses by the Korean press, including misguided concoction of facts and incorrect reporting, are stopped once and for all. All the Korean administration asks of the press is that it files reports on the basis of truthful and correct information. This is not asking too much of a responsible media. Jung Soon-kyun Vice Minister Government Information Agency Republic of Korea