Korea's No.1 newspaper accused of inventing experts' quotes
Chosun Ilbo removed the articles at the center of the dispute. Korea Times file
By Park Si-soo
South Korea's highest-circulating newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, is suspected of inventing the
of experts for three articles attacking a polling agency, which it claimed was “untrustworthy” because it is friendly to the ruling party.
Chosun removed the articles published on May 16 and 17 after the experts said they had never talked with the paper's reporters. But Realmeter, the agency, has declared no mercy for “fake interviews and unfair reporting,” pledging legal action against the newspaper and the articles' writers.
Realmeter CEO
said the articles had “seriously tarnished” the agency's reputation.
On the left are three controversial articles from Chosun Ilbo. On the right is survey expert Bae Jong-chan's text message denying contact with Chosun reporters. Courtesy of Lee Taek-soo
The conservative daily has been at odds with liberal President Moon Jae-in and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on many fronts, especially North Korea and economic policies. The conflict deepened after Moon ordered the reopening early this year of some cold cases, including a sex/corruption scandal involving Chosun's top executives.
The articles were published after Realmeter released the approval ratings of political parties for the third week of May. In the report, Realmeter said the ruling party was 13.1 percentage points ahead of the main opposition conservative Liberal Korea Party (LKP). A week earlier, the gap was 1.6 percentage points.
Chosun claimed the rapid gap extension was unrealistic. In the articles, the daily quoted media and survey experts as saying Realmeter “could have adjusted its opinion collecting method in a way producing results favorable to the ruling party.”
“I've never talked this way,” said Bae Jong-chan, one of the quoted experts. “Above all, I've never talked (on the issue) with Chosun reporters.”
Chosun has not commented.