Communist Party Media Even Mentioning False Accusation of Reporting... Political Sphere 'Words Words Words'

Controversy in Yeouido over Lee Dong-gwan's Communist Party Remarks
Opposition Raises National Security Law, Turning It into an Issue

The remarks by nominee Lee Dong-kwan, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, referring to a 'Communist Party organ' sparked heated controversy in Yeouido's political circles. This statement escalated into a debate over the failure to report under the National Security Act, becoming a subject of political dispute.

Earlier, on the morning of his first day at the confirmation hearing preparation team on the 1st, Lee met with reporters and said, "The media is an area that cannot be controlled, nor should it be controlled." However, he added, "In the past, the Communist Party's newspapers and broadcasts, which were very skillful in propaganda and agitation, are not called media by us because they do not convey facts and truth but rather convey claims. We call that an organ, which in English is 'organ'."

Jeong Cheong-rae, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "He should tell the investigative and intelligence agencies where the Communist Party media is," and added, "Otherwise, it falls under Article 10 of the National Security Act regarding failure to report, which could lead to imprisonment." Failure to report is a crime established when a person knows of anti-state activities but does not report them to investigative or intelligence agencies.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Kwang-on, floor leader, said at the party's Supreme Council meeting on the 2nd, "It sounded like a declaration of war against the media, labeling critical media of the government with ideological tags to control them," emphasizing, "Many citizens say that the behavior of expelling broadcasters critical of the administration, using intelligence agencies to surveil public broadcasting personnel, and interfering with personnel appointments to control the media is akin to the Communist Party."

On the 3rd, Representative Jeong appeared on the YouTube channel 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Difficult News Factory' and criticized, "If it is Communist Party media, does that mean the reporters at that company are Communist Party members?" He added, "It seems like an excessively extreme and anachronistic idea." Jeong also said, "I wonder if saying such things pleases the president."

When asked by the host, "Which media do you think the nominee was referring to?" Jeong replied, "He did not specify where," and added, "So I asked an MBC reporter, 'Are you talking about your company because of the Biden-related controversy?'"

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