ed President's mouthpiece

Mouthpiece’s repeated gaffes put boss into deeper crisis

Since the ferry disaster occurred six weeks ago, a series of thoughtless and tactless comments have added to the pains of bereaved families.

Some of these absurd remarks have come from people who should never have made them because of their positions. It’s regrettable that President Park Geun-hye’s mouthpiece is included among this group.

“A diver is receiving 1 million won ($1,000) a day, and an additional 5 million won for retrieving a body,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Min Kyung-wook was quoted as saying by state-run Yonhap News Agency Saturday.

When the divers and the company employing them strongly denied this, describing it as groundless, Min said he was just conveying some hearsay he had heard during a lunch with reporters.

Yet the post of presidential spokesman should not be one that spreads unconfirmed rumors, and his or her meetings with reporters can hardly be private occasions, especially during a crisis such as this.

As the controversy deepened, Min cooked up some excuses, saying it was his personal hope that the government would provide incentives in order to speed up the search operation.

However, by doing so, he added insult to injury. Min’s additional remark was problematic for at least two reasons.

First, by stressing the need for incentives, Min gave the impression that divers have not done their best so far because of financial reasons. That was insulting for the people who have risked their own lives to help relieve the sufferings of the victims’ families and the general public.

Second, Min demonstrated superficial thinking to patch up a crisis caused by the same shallow way of doing things by putting money and profits ahead of human lives and safety.

Min later acknowledged and apologized for his verbal blunders. Again, his position is not for explaining and expressing regrets but one that seldom allows such mishaps in the first place. More problematic, it was not his first.

When the public called for the chief executive’s apology in the early stage of the worst maritime catastrophe in decades, Min shot back, “Do you mean the president should apologize every hour or every minute?”

When the bereaved families refused to accept Park’s expression of regret at a Cabinet meeting as a formal apology, Min expressed “his own” regrets about the families’ response.

When the bereaved families staged a sit-in for a meeting with President Park, the spokesman said only “pure” family members will be allowed in as if there were “impure” elements in them.

Min, a former lead anchor of state broadcaster KBS, moved to Cheong Wa Dae while he was serving as the culture editor, raising questions about journalistic ethics and triggering protest from junior reporters.

President Park needs to seriously consider replacing her mouthpiece in the upcoming reshuffle of secretaries.

A presidential spokesman should not only be perfectly aware of ― and reflect correctly ― the president’s policies and intentions but also the bosses’ emotions and moods.

As with other aides, the president should choose someone who can convey the public’s views to her more proficiently, rather than the other way round.

Park’s first pick was a major disgrace ― Yoon Chang-joong was accused of sexually harassing an intern during the president’s visit to Washington last year ― not only for Cheong Wa Dae but for the entire nation.

Her latest choice might be another public relations disaster for different reasons.