So Joo-jin: "The Public Relations Chief's Office Misapproached the 'MBC Incident'"

All Burdens Shift to the President, "Exclusion from Private Jet Boarding Should Have Been Justified"

Rep. So Su-jin of the People Power Party. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Rep. Jo Sujin of the People Power Party criticized the presidential office's press secretary's handling of the conflict between the presidential office and MBC.

In an interview on the 23rd with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyunjung's News Show,' Rep. Jo pointed out, "The MBC incident was approached very poorly by the presidential office's press secretary. All the burden shifted directly to the president himself."

Regarding the exclusion of MBC from boarding the presidential plane during President Yoon Seok-yeol's Southeast Asia tour, Rep. Jo said, "There is no mandatory rule that they must be allowed to board," but added, "The press secretary's office should have had a justification such as preventing recurrence or stating, 'If MBC does not clearly apologize for their mistakes, we have no choice but to take this action.'" The presidential office excluded MBC reporters from boarding the presidential plane during this month's Southeast Asia tour, citing that MBC had harmed national interests by definitively reporting that President Yoon used profanity during his New York trip last September.

On this, Rep. Jo said, "There should have been a buildup of justification through one or two instances (leading to the boarding exclusion decision), but that procedure was missing, wasn't it?" So, as always, the burden falls directly and entirely on the president."

Rep. Jo also addressed the recent verbal exchange between an MBC reporter and a presidential aide, which led to the suspension of President Yoon's doorstepping (morning Q&A). She said, "Before the president receives (doorstepping) questions, there needs to be a process of organizing issues or mutual pre-coordination on 'what questions should be asked.' That way, the president's political intentions can be understood more elegantly. In that regard, the press secretary's office was lacking." She added, "Those in the press secretary's office should be half journalists," emphasizing, "They must thoroughly understand journalists' demands and conditions."

When asked whether the presidential office should have had such a strategy even if the decision was made by higher-ups in the press secretary's office, she replied, "Would the president personally decide who boards the presidential plane? Everything is decided at the working level." She continued, "In a congressional office, there are tasks for the congressperson and separate tasks for aides. Therefore, having competent aides is the top priority," reiterating the lack of strategy in the press secretary's office.

She added, "When I was a Supreme Council member, I mentioned during a lunch at the presidential office that refining the doorstepping method and the content of questions and answers is very important. I hope the issues that arose will be resolved well, and the method will be made more sophisticated before restarting doorstepping," expressing hope that doorstepping will resume after improvements.

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