UPP fails to attract foreign reporters

Oh Byung-yoon, left, a former lawmaker of the now-disbanded Unified Progressive Party (UPP), speaks as Kim Jae-yeon, also a former UPP legislator, listens during a press conference for foreign correspondents in Korea at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Jun Ji-hye

Members of the recently dissolved Unified Progressive Party (UPP) invited foreign reporters to a news conference, Monday, in an apparent bid to turn international attention on its struggle against the Constitutional Court’s decision to disband the party and strip its five lawmakers of their parliamentary seats.

However, the effort apparently failed because only a few foreign reporters attended the event.

Of about 40 reporters who attended the conference at the Korea Press Center, Seoul, only about 10 were from foreign media outlets. Around half of them were Koreans working as correspondents for foreign media here and remaining others were camera crew.

Most participants were Korean reporters. “My company has little interest in the UPP issue, probably because the party is not a major party. Our readers have not shown that much interest about the matter as well,” said a reporter working for foreign press, asking not to be named. “Plus, we all know that the party’s such move cannot change the already-decided ruling of the court. I came here because I personally wondered about the atmosphere here.”

One foreign reporter who did not attend the news conference said that the leftist party failed to publicize the event well, adding that he did not even know about it. But he also agreed with others about the low degree of interest shown.

“It simply isn’t an international news story. There are bigger issues such as U.S. sanctions on North Korea and so on. People just are not that interested in it,” he said.

The party organized Monday’s news conference following the court’s order issued on Dec. 19 to disband it for sympathizing with the political system in North Korea.

Lee Seok-ki, who lost his seat following the decision, was convicted in February of conspiring to support a North Korean takeover of the South. Lee is now awaiting the final decision of the Supreme Court which is due this month.

Lawyer Baek Sung-moon said the UPP has had some limits to rely on Korean media to promote the public support toward its struggle.

“This led the party to invite foreign reporters to its conference. The party probably believed that foreign media might see the court’s decision as the government’s suppression against a minor opposition party,” he told a cable news channel. “The party’s aim was probably to get foreign reporters to the case damaged democracy.”

During the conference, former UPP lawmaker Lee Sang-gyu tried to stress that the President Park Geun-hye government is returning to dictatorship like her father, late President Park Chung-hee.

“The 2012 presidential election was totally dominated by the government. It was clear denial of the democracy,” he said. When the UPP raised this question and opposed to this dictatorship, the government prosecuted us. It was Korean style McCarthyism.”

Meanwhile, the party prevented conservative media such as Chosun Ilbo and Channel A entering the news conference, saying they were denied access.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye