[Full Text] "Ruling Party to Bear Historical Stigma" Five Press Organizations Urge Withdrawal of Media Arbitration Act Amendment

A poster created by press organizations such as the Korea Newspaper Association, the Korea Journalists Association, and the Korea Newspaper and Broadcasting Editors Association to demonstrate that the amendment to the Media Arbitration Act suppresses the media's voice and infringes on the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Full text of the press conference by the five media organizations.

Withdrawal of the bill submission and voting against it is the true beginning of media reform.

Today is the day. It is the day when an irreversible decision will be made in Korean politics and media companies. The media, which exposed the state corruption scandal and triggered the regime change, will fall into the quagmire of injunction lawsuits and become a target of punishment. It is the day when the citizens in the square, who once raised their voices in unison against the Democratic Party delaying the impeachment decision of Park Geun-hye, will be driven into an irreparable division.

On August 27, we proposed to the Democratic Party a social agreement body for sufficient discussion and consensus.

Democratic Party, do not confuse consultation with consensus. The Democratic Party has already packaged repeated amendments to some clauses of a bill with a predetermined conclusion as consultation. The order is wrong. Listening to the causes of declining media trust, confirming the responsibilities required of media companies and media workers, and then deriving effective remedies for media report damages is the process of consensus.

The social agreement body is the last opportunity for the Democratic Party, which received power from the candlelight citizens without any effort, to exercise legislative power democratically. If this proposal is also abandoned, the ruling party elected by the most democratic power will bear the historical stigma of passing the most anti-democratic bill. Not only will there be an unbearable backlash in the upcoming presidential election, but the freedom of the press and expression, which has expanded by breaking through long-standing military dictatorship and authoritarian power oppression, will again be placed under the blockade of power, and South Korea’s democracy, praised worldwide, will become a laughingstock in the international community. Isn’t that already happening?

We demand the leadership of the Democratic Party.

Withdraw the submission of the problematic Media Arbitration Act amendment bill to the plenary session, which is too flawed to list all the issues. At the same time, immediately accept the social agreement body proposed by civil society and active media professionals.

We demand the People Power Party.

Is the "freedom of the press" you shout, after years of writing a dark history of media suppression and broadcasting control, really the same freedom of the press we talk about? Not many citizens believe that you oppose the amendment to the Media Arbitration Act for the sake of press freedom. If your opposition is not to protect the vested interests of some conservative media and capital, immediately express your willingness to participate in the social agreement body proposed by media professional organizations and civil society and present constructive alternatives.

We demand all 300 members of the National Assembly.

Clearly express opposition to the flawed Media Arbitration Act amendment bill from the start of its submission and reject it.

Freedom of the press and expression is the fundamental right that enables all other freedoms. Forcing a bill that restricts and suppresses this without social consensus is a regression that denies the painful history of democracy in South Korea. Each of us will clearly record and remember who in the constitutional institution of the National Assembly creates and supports this unconstitutional law, marking a disgrace in constitutional history.

Despite all these proposals, if the political circle passes the Media Arbitration Act amendment bill in today’s plenary session, we will record today as the day of destruction of press freedom and regression of democracy. Whoever demonizes the media as a target of hostility and hatred, divides it into "enemy" and "ally," and wields legal and political violence to serve partisan interests will be fought against to the end. This is not an attack on journalists but a threat to South Korean democracy.

The plenary session just hours away is a moment of choice to show whether the Democratic Party, which claimed to be the candlelight government, is truly a party for the people.

Finally, we demand the National Assembly. If you do not want the end of media reform, declare the true beginning of media reform by withdrawing the bill submission and voting against it.

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