Tighter press control at the prosecutors' office causes stir

Cameramen wait outside the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Oct. 21, the day the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's wife. / Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jin

Justice ministry's attempt to control journalists' access to prosecution draws anger from press community

By Lee Suh-yoon

Local media are up in arms over a new set of rules issued by the Ministry of Justice to prosecutors' offices nationwide, aimed at keeping tighter control of information given to the press. Among these, one clause orders the offices to deny information access to journalists who report “fake news.”

The ministry's guidelines, announced Wednesday, were in response to criticism that investigation information was being regularly leaked to the press by anonymous prosecutors. The issue was recently brought up in the prosecution's investigation of the family of the short-lived Justice Minister Cho Kuk.

“The prosecutor-general and heads of prosecutors' offices can limit press-level information access to journalists or members of media organizations who report fake news, violating the reputation, privacy or human rights of the related parties or the prosecutors investigating the case,” clause 33 of the new rules reads.

There was no further elaboration on what standards or procedures would be used to identify fake news, leaving it to the discretion of the offices involved. The prosecutors' offices are considered to be among the most important of news beats, as they are in charge of high-profile investigations into public figures including former presidents and heads of chaebol.

The Journalists Association of Korea (JAK) immediately lashed out at the ministry's announcement, calling it an attempt to suppress press freedom.

“(The ministry) announcing the suspension of press-level access to the prosecutors' offices for fake news reporters without stipulating what counts as fake news is deeply worrying,” it said in a statement, Thursday. "There is ample possibility for the ministry to make arbitrary decisions to block information access to media outlets that report unfavorably on the government.”

The new restrictions will go into effect Dec. 1. They specifically apply to a press corps of around 40 established media outlets with exclusive access to the prosecutors' offices, such as off-the-record briefings and easier contact with the agency's civil servants. Such press corps systems are spread out over all branches and levels of government in Korea.

The rules also ban individual prosecutors who are not part of the agency's press relations division from communicating with reporters. The prosecution's press relations officers will no longer be able to carry out casual press meetings over tea, sticking to just prepared announcements in briefing rooms.

Members of the legal community also voiced concern “fake news” labelling could bar the media from guaranteeing the public's right to necessary information.

“It's hard to apply fake news standards to reports on ongoing investigations. The student democracy activist Kang Ki-hoon, for example, was proven not guilty 20 years later, effectively making all previous media reports fake news,” Huh Yoon, spokesman for the Korean Bar Association, told The Korea Times. “The fake news label just seems like a ploy to help the institution block out media and public scrutiny.”

Ministry spokesman Park Jae-uk said the worries were misguided, assuring reporters that the rules would not be misused against the press.

“The rules will only apply to cases that are serious and clear-cut according to social norms,” Park told The Korea Times, Thursday, as the controversy kept growing. “And in such cases, I think the prosecution would consult the press corps beforehand.”

The spokesman's words, however, did little to convince reporters in the prosecution press corps, many of whom claim the restrictions will unfairly target those who are critical of the government or agency.

“An article citing a wrong suspect or targeted victim of the prosecution's investigations could easily be called out as fake news by the prosecutors' offices,” said one reporter who asked not to be named. “Likewise, news scoops that find fault with the investigation itself could be penalized for defaming a prosecutor.”