GNP Opposes Pressroom Closure
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) Wednesday intensified its discord against the Roh Moo-hyun administration's plan to close most of the government pressrooms.
A group of 10 lawmakers of the conservative party made an on-site inspection of pressrooms at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the National Police Agency to protest the plan. Journalists have also opposed the plan.
Following the inspection, the legislators, who belong to the Culture and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly, criticized government officials for seeking to close the pressrooms.
The Assembly panel is scheduled to convene Friday.
``The government's media policy has gone too far. The GNP will stand up against the measure,'' Kim Hyong-o, floor leader of the party, said.
Kim went on, ``The government has closed the pressrooms and directed government officials not to have a face-to-face meeting with journalists. The government even used budget to put the malpractice in place.''
Outspoken presidential hopeful Chough Soon-hyung of the Democratic Party (DP) joined the forces.
He said the pressroom closure is an outdated and retroactive measure, which would have been put in place two decades ago under an authoritarian government.
Chough described the plan as malpractice working against the right of information access.
He urged the government to scrap the plan and bring freedom of the press back to journalists.
Under the plan, only officials at the Government Information Agency (GIA), who are in charge of the issuance of press cards and reporters will be allowed to stay in the pressrooms. They are required permission to enter any government agencies.
Journalists took collective action against the closure Tuesday, urging the government to retain the existing pressrooms.
In a message to the GIA, they also demanded that reporters be allowed to hold face-to-face meetings with government officials.