Kim Eui-gyeom "Let's Create a News Portal with Government Funds"... Opposition Party Says "Just Go Speculate on Real Estate"

Kim Eui-gyeom "Current portals are a kind of 'political porno'"
Opposition "Yoon Young-chan's 'Come into Kakao' comment reminds us... Is this a communist country?"

Kim Eui-gyeom, Member of the Open Democratic Party./Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] On the 27th, Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party, proposed creating a separate news portal funded by the government, citing problems with internet portal news. The People Power Party raised their voices in criticism, calling it "portal control only possible in a dictatorship era."

At the 'Media Reform Policy Forum' held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the same day, Representative Kim pointed out that the algorithm-based news editing used by internet portals “has the effect of reinforcing individual preferences, causing issues of information bias.”

He continued, "The current portals can be likened to a kind of 'political porno,'" adding, "They have degenerated into sadism, sensationalism, and immoral mockery, where low-quality articles gather and stagnate, emitting a foul stench."

Representative Kim proposed, "Let's create an 'Open News Portal' funded by government funds, where an editorial committee composed of civic groups, academia, and media companies reviews and publishes news selected by each media outlet."

He added, "The government should only provide support and must not interfere with operation and editing," and "We should also consider prioritizing government advertisements to media companies that provide news to the Open News Portal."

Professor Kim Geun-sik of Gyeongnam University, chairman of the Seoul Songpa-byeong district of the People Power Party./Photo by Yonhap News

In response, the People Power Party opposed, calling it "a state-controlled portal that could only exist in a communist country in the 21st century."

Hwang Gyu-hwan, the full-time deputy spokesperson, said in a verbal statement that day, "Although the place and time are different, this scene reminds me of Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan, who said 'Tell Kakao to come in' because he didn't like the news editing," and sharply criticized, "Which era is Representative Kim living in?"

Previously, Yoon, a former vice president of Naver, was caught sending a message to his aides in the National Assembly plenary session in September last year, instructing, "Kakao is too much. Tell them to come in," raising a 'power abuse controversy' regarding portal main screen news editing.

Deputy Spokesperson Hwang continued, "Did he inherit his position as a lawmaker by digging into the public’s hearts to carry out media control disguised as media reform?" He added, "It would be better if he honestly confessed that he dislikes articles pointing out his many mistakes and incompetence and wants to prevent them from reaching the public."

Kim Geun-sik, professor at Gyeongnam National University and head of the People Power Party’s Songpa-byeong district in Seoul, also wrote on Facebook that day, "Editing and article exposure on portals are not areas for subjective involvement by companies. They are areas of private autonomy," and criticized, "It is like saying the government will create a government newspaper because newspapers write sensational articles. It is an intention to edit portal articles to suit the government’s taste and deliver news according to the government’s preferences."

He added, "If you want to push for portal control, at least find a reasonable excuse," and sarcastically said, "If you are going to control portals in the name of media reform, which is only possible in a dictatorship era, you might as well just engage in real estate speculation. That would be less harmful to the country."

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