Presidential Office "Fundamental Review of Doorstepping... Concerns Over Hindering Public Communication"

-Kim Young-tae, External Cooperation Secretary, Voluntarily Resigns... "Feels Moral Responsibility as Person in Charge"
-Press Corps Responds to Presidential Office's Request on 'MBC Reporter Disciplinary Opinion': "No Supporting Regulations"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The Presidential Office announced on the 21st that the reason for President Yoon Seok-yeol's suspension of doorstepping was "an unavoidable decision made to achieve better communication with the public through fundamental review." The Presidential Office's External Cooperation Secretary, who served as the communication channel with the media, voluntarily resigned taking responsibility for the incident.

Lee Jae-myung, Deputy Spokesperson of the Presidential Office, stated at a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon, "There are even concerns that (doorstepping) might become an obstacle that hinders communication with the public."

Deputy Spokesperson Lee explained, "President Yoon Seok-yeol had a stronger will for doorstepping than anyone else. For six months, he worked with the journalists present here to create a doorstepping system that no one had ever tried before," adding, "The effort to establish doorstepping as a tradition was based on President Yoon's intention to become a president who receives questions and is held accountable."

On the same day, when asked by reporters whether the Presidential Office meant to stop doorstepping altogether, a Presidential Office official replied, "We plan to consider resuming it once we are confident that fundamental measures to prevent recurrence have been established and it can be developed in a better way."

Regarding the Presidential Office's position that "there are concerns that doorstepping might become an obstacle that hinders communication with the public," the official said, "Anyone who has witnessed the scene would know that it was not a place for communication with the public but a scene where loud voices were exchanged and acts close to disturbances occurred, making it inevitably uncomfortable for everyone," adding, "In a situation where there are concerns about recurrence, continuing doorstepping threatens the original purpose of sincere communication with the public and only causes continued discomfort. Therefore, there is no reason to maintain doorstepping, and that is the judgment made."

Meanwhile, Kim Young-tae, External Cooperation Secretary who served as a bridge between the Presidential Office and the press corps, voluntarily resigned on the same day. A Presidential Office official said, "He expressed his intention to resign, feeling moral responsibility as the person in charge of doorstepping due to the unfortunate incident."

On the other hand, the secretariat of the Presidential Office's Central Press Corps decided not to express any opinion regarding the Presidential Office's disciplinary review of an MBC reporter, stating, "There is no basis to discuss disciplinary action." The Presidential Office had requested opinions from the secretariat after reviewing disciplinary measures against the reporter who had a verbal dispute with the Public Relations Planning Secretary following doorstepping on the 18th. The Presidential Office conveyed to the secretariat, "Since an unfortunate incident such as shouting occurred, if such incidents continue, it will affect the continuation of doorstepping," and "The Presidential Office is reviewing appropriate measures against the reporter from the company to prevent recurrence."

The measures proposed by the Presidential Office include three options for the MBC reporter: ▲cancellation of press accreditation (the media outlet cannot recommend a reporter for accreditation within one year) ▲ban on entering the Presidential Press Room ▲request to replace the reporter with another MBC-affiliated journalist. After online discussions over the weekend, the secretariat concluded that the verbal dispute between the MBC reporter and the secretary did not meet the criteria for convening the Operations Committee.

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