Kim Ki-hyun: "'Media Gag Law' Almost Turned into a Tool to Cover Up Power Corruption"

Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 23rd. 2021.9.23 Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, said on the 23rd, "If the Media Gag Law (Act on the Mediation and Relief of Damage Caused by Media) had existed, reports like the 'Daejang-dong Gate' would have been completely blocked from the start and could not have been reported at all."

At the People Power Party's Supreme Council meeting that day, Floor Leader Kim said, "In the end, the Media Gag Law is obviously going to degenerate into a means to cover up power corruption," and urged, "The Democratic Party of Korea should fully repeal this evil law now and cooperate in preparing reasonable alternatives to regulate fake news damage."

He continued, "The People Power Party agrees on the need to improve the system to minimize social damage caused by malicious fake news," but pointed out, "It is obvious that it will be abused to infringe on the public's right to know and press freedom and to conceal power corruption. What the Democratic Party is pushing for is an unconstitutional Media Gag Law."

He also said, "Although the evil law should be abolished, the Democratic Party stubbornly insists on it and is rather proposing a revised bill with even more unconstitutional content," explaining, "According to the newly proposed revision by the Democratic Party, the scope of punitive damages has been expanded compared to before by defining the target as reports that are not truthful."

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