GNP Plans to Disband Information Agency
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) Thursday reiterated its demand that an agency in charge of implementing the closure of government pressrooms be abolished.
The conservative party said if it wins the upcoming presidential election, it will disband the Government Information Agency (GIA).
GNP Chairman Rep. Kang Jae-sup said his party will submit a bill to dismantle the GIA to the National Assembly session that opens in September.
If the GNP fails to legislate the bill, the party will try to restructure government organizations to remove the agency, Kang said.
``The GNP is putting its priority on protecting the pressrooms,'' Kang said. ``If the Roh Moo-hyun administration forcibly closes them, we will restore the current pressrooms when we win the presidential election.''The election is slated for Dec. 19.
Lee Myung-bak, presidential nominee of the GNP, also criticized the government's plan and pledged to bring back the existing pressroom system if he is elected president.
``We see the pressrooms closure from a different viewpoint than the incumbent government,'' Lee said. ``We should protect the people's right to know because we are living in an open society, not a closed one.''
Lee urged again President Roh to drop his plan to shut down most of the pressrooms. If not, Lee said he will reopen the pressrooms when he becomes president.
A group of GNP lawmakers visited pressrooms of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Financial Supervisory Service to gather opinions from reporters there who also oppose the closure.
Following the visit, the legislators, who belong to the Culture and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly, criticized government officials implementing the GIA policy. The Assembly panel is scheduled to convene today to discuss the issue.
The government plans to close most of its pressrooms and move reporters out of them. In their place, the government wants reporters to move to centralized pressrooms in the Government Complexes in Seoul and Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.
The government also plans to provide electronic briefings in order to enhance transparency and save time. However, reporters see them as ineffective because it will be hard to have interactive briefings.
Reporters will only be allowed to stay in the central pressrooms and have to get permission to enter any government agency, according to the plan. They are worried that their access to government officials will be severely blocked.
The press corps of several ministries have collectively voiced their opposition to the plan, saying it violates freedom of expression and the people's right to know.