"Our Party Must Protect" Kim Eo-jun Defense by Ruling Party... Opposition: "Mental Pillar of Moon Administration?"

Woo Won-sik "'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory', the media that at least tells the truth"
Opposition "Kim Eo-jun, the second Jo Guk?"

Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] When the ruling party defended broadcaster Kim Eo-jun, who has been embroiled in controversies over high appearance fees, verbal contracts, and political bias, the opposition party sharply criticized on the 26th, saying, "Is Kim Eo-jun the second Cho Kuk?"

Bae Jun-young, spokesperson for the People Power Party, issued a statement that day, saying, "Key current and former figures of the administration have come out to fiercely defend Kim Eo-jun."

He questioned, "I thought Kim Eo-jun was a 'feather,' but was he the 'body'?" and pointed out, "Now it seems that Kim Eo-jun is actually the spiritual pillar of the Moon Jae-in administration."

Spokesperson Bae also said of Kim, "His outdated old practices and demagogic politics, producing fake news, are unmistakably like former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk," and criticized, "He preaches fairness but behaves with double standards."

He added, "While public sentiment has turned red alert, the Democratic Party's repeated cries of 'Protect Kim Eo-jun,' shutting their eyes and ears, resemble the d?j? vu of when they shouted 'Protect Cho Kuk.'"

Furthermore, he raised his voice, saying, "Can TBS, where Kim Eo-jun privately exploits public resources, be called a public broadcaster? Why package subjective, biased messages with citizens' taxes and broadcast them on waves funded by citizens' taxes? They should broadcast on YouTube."

Finally, Spokesperson Bae warned, "Has the Democratic Party already forgotten the public sentiment that flared up like wildfire during the Cho Kuk incident? If the 'protect Kim Eo-jun' stance that ignores public sentiment continues, they will face waves of public opinion even stronger than during the Cho Kuk incident."

Earlier, Woo Won-sik, a candidate for the Democratic Party leadership, criticized the People Power Party's continued emphasis on Kim's appearance fee suspicions during a YouTube debate with party members the day before, calling it "media suppression tactics similar to those of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations."

He said, "TBS's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' is at least a media outlet that tells the truth. If our party does not protect it, freedom of the press may regress," and added, "If I become party leader, I will form a separate team to respond to this issue."

Former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae also stated on her Facebook on the 23rd, "When the entire media baselessly criticized the Korean government in 2020 for failing in COVID-19 quarantine, only 'News Factory' reported the success of quarantine with evidence by comparing overseas quarantine cases," and said, "'News Factory' is not politically biased; the problem is that other media are too caught up in 'media commercialism.'"

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