Park Sung-joong, Yoon Young-chan's 'Portal Pressure' Controversy: "Not a One-Time Skill... Should Resign from the Science and ICT Committee"

"Possibility of Public Opinion Manipulation Through Portals Is Being Confirmed"

Yoon Young-chan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, exchanging messages related to the news of Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, delivering the party representative speech published on KakaoTalk News, at the National Assembly plenary session hall on the afternoon of the 8th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] Amid growing controversy over Yoon Young-chan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, allegedly pressuring portal sites, calls are rising for his resignation from the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee (STIBC).

Earlier, on the 8th, when the speech by Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, was featured on the main page of the portal site Daum, Yoon sent a message to his staff saying, "Kakao is too much. Tell them to come in," sparking controversy over pressuring the portal site.

As the controversy intensified, Yoon explained on his social network service (SNS), "I questioned the fairness of the exposure process of the floor leaders' speeches on the portal."

Regarding this, Park Sung-joong, a member of the People Power Party, criticized in an interview with MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the 10th, saying, "Looking at Yoon Young-chan's (messenger) messages, this is not something done just once or twice," and added, "I think he has had some success so far."

Park said, "If you see messages like 'Strongly protest, tell them to come in,' this is something only someone experienced would do," and criticized, "Even I, who am the head of our party's publicity department, special media committee chairman, and have served as a STIBC secretary for about three years, cannot say 'Strongly protest, tell them to come in' to Kakao or Naver."

Members of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee (STIBC), including Park Sung-joong, Park Dae-chul (center), and Heo Eun-ah of the People Power Party, are seen on the 8th in front of the STIBC meeting room announcing a statement regarding the messenger conversation of Yoon Young-chan of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "We have been closely monitoring Yoon as a person of interest recently due to the possibility of public opinion manipulation through portals," explaining, "Because Yoon was directly connected to portals as a former Naver vice president, full-time vice chairman of the Korea Internet Corporations Association, SNS director of Moon Jae-in's presidential campaign, and senior secretary for public communication at the Blue House."

He added, "Kakao's vice president Jung Hye-seung also joined as the Blue House's New Media Secretary. The Blue House wouldn't have brought in such figures without reason," and said, "We are watching this incident carefully."

Park announced plans to file a complaint against Yoon with the National Assembly Ethics Committee. He stated, "According to Article 48 of the National Assembly Act, there are reasons that compromise fairness, so we are demanding that he resign from the STIBC and move to another standing committee, and we plan to file a complaint with the Ethics Committee," adding, "Depending on the investigation and inquiry results, it could be grounds for resignation and even a demand for a state audit."

He also urged the disclosure of portal site algorithms. Park emphasized, "Google has fully disclosed 13 algorithm arrangements, but we only partially disclose ours, making it a black-box algorithm," and said, "While we won't infringe on 100% trade secrets, we need to discuss and ensure fairness in areas where fairness can be maintained. Only then can our portals survive."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.