'Gov't needs to monitor English media on epidemics with greater scrutiny'

Rep. Heo Yun-jung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea smiles during an interview with The Korea Times at her office in the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Lawmaker urges government to win public trust to fight against fake news on virus

By Jung Da-min

The government needs to monitor English media on epidemics with greater scrutiny, including the current 2019-nCoV (COVID-19) outbreak, as it reflects the government's actions to the world, which could have diplomatic, economic and social influence in the globalized era, a health expert-turned-lawmaker has said.

Thus the government should offer accurate information through trusted media channels that target foreigners here or abroad, to prevent false information from spreading, she said.

“As today's world is one market, South Korea's issue is not merely a domestic issue but a global issue. The government should pay particular attention how foreign media and domestic media targeting foreigners report our country's issue to the world,” Rep. Heo Yun-jung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said during an interview with The Korea Times at her office in the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday.

“The current monitoring systems of government departments for such English-language media, however, seem very weak. The government is urged to improve it so that it could give detailed feedback to their reports through thorough monitoring.”

Heo was a health professor who held expert member positions with the government and the ruling party and headed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Research Institute under the government-run Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. She recently became an Assembly member of the DPK after succeeding a proportional representative seat from Kim Sung-soo, who resigned to join Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's office as his chief secretary.

The lawmaker also said the government and media should pay more attention to foreigners living in the country as their numbers are growing, so as not to create discrimination towards them.

“The issue of an epidemic has a strong social impact. If we show sensible responses when overcoming an epidemic, it could have positive effects on our diplomatic relations with foreign countries as they would think we can be trusted,” Heo said. “In that way, how to respond to an epidemic has diplomatic, socio-economic and cultural effects.”

She also stressed the need to prevent the spreading of false information and fake news, which would render quarantine efforts difficult.

Rumors and false information on the COVID-19 have been creating social turmoil here. False information relating to where coronavirus patients had visited spreads quickly through social media channels, resulting in a drop in the number of visitors to the places and financial losses to businesses in those locations. Incorrect information has stigmatized all people from China, where the virus originated.

“The spread of fake news is as deadly as the spread of the virus itself as it threatens the safety of people in that it could put the stigma on those infected with the virus, making them reluctant to reveal their illness and thus reduce the effect of quarantine efforts,” Heo said.

“Anyone could come down with viruses like anyone could catch a cold, and it is not a crime or sin. But when false information stigmatizes the patients and makes them hide their condition, it could threaten the safety of all people.”

Heo said the fundamental solution to end false information on the virus epidemic is the government winning people's trust by offering correct information through trusted channels, and said, in that respect, the Korean government's dealing with the COVID-19 has been efficient so far, being highly recognized by the international community as seen through the good ratings given by the World Health Organization or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After the government raised the infectious disease alert level by one notch from the second “yellow” to the third “orange” level on the four-tier system and set an emergency headquarters led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in late January, it has been holding meetings and briefings every day to offer updated information on the virus to people.