Ryu Ho-jeong: "Samsung Electronics Executive Enters National Assembly Daily Using Press Pass"

Suspected Registration of Former Saenuri Party Official as Press Reporter for Lobbying Purposes
National Assembly Secretariat "Will Take Action After Investigation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] It has been revealed that a Samsung Electronics executive, who is a former Saenuri Party staff member, was entering and exiting the National Assembly daily using a press pass.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 7th, Ryu Ho-jeong, a Justice Party lawmaker belonging to the National Assembly Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Startups Committee, held a press conference and stated, “We received complaints related to Samsung Electronics' technology theft from small and medium-sized enterprises and applied to summon the vice president as a witness to verify the facts. Since then, a Samsung Electronics executive has been visiting daily without the office’s confirmation. Upon investigating the entry route, it was found that he was entering with a press pass from a media outlet,” she said. Persons not registered for entry must disclose the office they are visiting and the purpose of the visit to enter the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

According to Representative Ryu, this executive is a managing director in charge of National Assembly venue management at Samsung Electronics and is registered as a long-term National Assembly press reporter affiliated with the media outlet ‘Korea News Factory.’ It is known that before joining Samsung Electronics, he was active as a staff member of the Saenuri Party. During the era of the Democratic Liberal Party, the predecessor of the Saenuri Party, he served as the senior specialist of the Policy Committee at the party secretariat, head of the Seoul City Party Secretariat, director of the Central Party Organization Bureau, and later served as the administrative director of the Saenuri Party spokesperson before retiring in 2014. The press registration date is known to be after joining Samsung Electronics.

The National Assembly Secretariat issued a statement on the same day, saying, “Upon verification, it was confirmed that he has been registered as a reporter entering the National Assembly since 2016,” and added, “The Secretariat issues press passes that can be renewed annually if the media outlet is legally registered under the Act on Promotion of Newspapers and satisfies certain article writing requirements.”

Furthermore, the Secretariat emphasized, “We will cooperate with the relevant media outlet and the lawmaker’s office to ascertain the facts, and if it is confirmed that the individual’s purpose of entering the National Assembly is unrelated to reporting activities, appropriate measures will be taken according to internal regulations.”

The Secretariat’s internal regulations on National Assembly press registration and reporting support stipulate that if the purpose of entry is unrelated to reporting activities, or if violence, threats, deception, or intimidation are exercised against lawmakers, party staff, National Assembly Secretariat, National Assembly Library, National Assembly Budget Office, National Assembly Research Service staff, or National Assembly press reporters, measures such as cancellation of registration may be taken.

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