Media Group: "Yoon's Ban on Jeonyonggi Boarding is a Challenge to the Constitution... Stop Press Oppression"

Press Association and Media Groups Urgent Joint Statement
"Misconception of Personal Yoon Seok-yeol's Private Property Privilege"

On the afternoon of the 10th, ahead of President Yoon Suk-yeol's departure for his Southeast Asia tour, press organizations including the Korea Association of Journalists, the National Union of Media Workers, and the Broadcast Journalists Association held an emergency press conference in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, regarding the Presidential Office's refusal to allow MBC reporters to board the presidential aircraft.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Media organizations criticized the Presidential Office for denying MBC reporters access to board the presidential aircraft ahead of President Yoon Suk-yeol's Southeast Asia tour, calling it "media oppression and violence, and a clear challenge to the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution."

On the 10th, media organizations including the Korea Journalists Association, Broadcast Journalists Union, National Union of Mediaworkers, Korea Video Journalists Association, Korea Women Journalists Association, Korea PD Association, and Korea Broadcasting Technicians Union issued an urgent joint statement urging, "President Yoon Suk-yeol must immediately stop this unconstitutional media suppression."

The organizations stated, "The Presidential Office's restriction of coverage and refusal to allow boarding of the presidential aircraft to certain media outlets due to criticism of power is unprecedented in the history of the Republic of Korea's constitutional governance," adding, "This measure can only be seen as a lowly political attack aimed at blaming the media for the government's incompetence and mismanagement?such as the president's overseas tour scandal involving abusive language and the irresponsible response to the tragic Itaewon disaster?and rallying some far-right supporters."

They continued, "The presidential aircraft is operated with taxpayers' money, and the coverage costs are borne by each media outlet at their own expense," pointing out, "We are appalled by the Presidential Office's anachronistic perception that boarding the presidential aircraft is a favor granted as if it were the private property of Yoon Suk-yeol."

President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the morning of the 10th and is answering questions from reporters.

This incident was compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump branding the media as 'fake news' and revoking a CNN reporter's White House press pass. At that time, the U.S. media, regardless of progressive or conservative camps, jointly opposed Trump's media suppression.

The organizations said, "This issue transcends political camps and is a direct challenge to the democratic basic order guaranteeing freedom of the press," expressing concern that "If the violence by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration targeting MBC today is tolerated, tomorrow the blade will be aimed at the entire media industry, undermining the foundation of press freedom and democracy built through bloodshed."

They further demanded, "President Yoon Suk-yeol must immediately revoke this unconstitutional and anti-historical restriction on coverage and apologize to the public," and "Those responsible within the Presidential Office for this coverage restriction must be immediately dismissed." They added, "If the Yoon administration does not take acceptable measures, we will define this incident as a serious threat to press freedom and democracy and will not hesitate to engage in an all-out confrontation with the Yoon administration."

President Moon Jae-in is holding a press briefing on the presidential aircraft returning to Korea at JFK Airport in New York, USA, in September 2017.
[Photo by Cheong Wa Dae]

Regarding the denial of boarding the presidential aircraft, President Yoon said on the day, "Because important national interests are at stake." Earlier, the Presidential Office notified MBC reporters that "boarding the presidential aircraft has been provided as a convenience for coverage related to diplomatic and security issues, but considering MBC's repeated distorted and biased reporting on diplomatic matters recently, we have decided not to provide this convenience."

President Yoon will visit Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Bali, Indonesia, sequentially for six days starting from the 11th to attend multilateral meetings such as the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit and the G20 Summit.

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