Jin Joong-kwon: "Democratic Party Creates 'Media Reform Buzz' as a New Type of Euphoric Effect... Abnormal"

"Creating enemies to demonize them, and the childish narrative that they themselves are revolutionaries"

Jin Joong-kwon, former professor at Dongyang University / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized the ruling Democratic Party, which is pushing for the National Assembly plenary session to consider the amendment to the Media Arbitration Act, saying that "the structure of political communication is very abnormal."

In a post on his Facebook on the 31st of last month, Jin said, "The way of gaining political support remains stuck in the old activist methods rather than being an ordinary political party."

He added, "They always create enemies, demonize them, and portray themselves as revolutionaries and reformers who defeat them, which is a childish narrative," and criticized, "They inject that cartoonish story into their supporters."

He continued, "They have to keep the public in a constant state of political excitement to maintain power," and claimed, "As the effect of the 'prosecutorial reform high' wears off and the public, who had been hallucinating after repeated defeats in the trials of Cho Kuk and Chung Kyung-shim, begin to see reality, they prepared a 'new kind of high' called the 'media reform high' to inject into the public showing withdrawal symptoms."

Jin added, "If they can't get that high, the supporters will go wild, so what will they do?"

From the left, Kim Ki-hyun, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly, and Yoon Ho-jung, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, are showing the agreement on forming a consultative body for the amendment of the Media Arbitration Act and the scheduling of the plenary session on September 27, at the Speaker's Office in the National Assembly, Yeouido, Seoul, on the 31st of last month. / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, the amendment to the 'Media Arbitration and Victim Relief Act,' known as the Media Arbitration Act amendment, is a bill that allows punitive damages of up to five times the amount of damages to be claimed against media outlets that publish false or fabricated reports. It was proposed with the intention of protecting victims from fake news, but some have opposed it, arguing that it could restrict freedom of the press.

Earlier, the ruling party unilaterally passed the Media Arbitration Act amendment in the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 25th of last month. Initially, the Democratic Party leadership intended to push the bill through the plenary session as well. However, as opposition parties and some civic groups strongly opposed it, the plenary session consideration was postponed to the 27th, and an '8-member consultative body' consisting of four ruling and opposition lawmakers and four experts was formed to reach an agreement by the time of the plenary session.

Regarding this, Yoon Ho-jung, the Democratic Party floor leader, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 1st and said, "The ruling and opposition parties agreed to consider and pass it on September 27. The fact that they set a specific date and agreed to process it is significant," and explained, "Whether the opposition agrees, opposes, or filibusters due to lack of proper consultation, it means they will participate in some way."

He added, "We will do our best to prepare a unified amendment through the consultative body," but emphasized, "It is not that the bill will only be considered if there is an agreement; it will be considered and processed clearly without any conditions."

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