Guri City: "City Council's Statement 'News Disappeared'... Completely Different from the Facts"

Failure to Understand Even Basic Concepts Such as Facts, Laws, and Ordinances
Unwavering Commitment to Communicating with Citizens
Dedicated to Producing 'Guri News'

The city of Guri, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun) on the 28th belittled the statement released by the Democratic Party members of the Guri City Council regarding the 'Guri News' publication, calling it a farce born out of ignorance that fails to understand the facts or even the basic facts.

Guri City Hall exterior. Provided by Guri City

On the 28th, the Guri City Council issued a statement protesting the omission of council content in the April 2025 issue of 'Guri News,' asserting that ▲'Guri News' is a public medium that must transparently convey major city information and council activities according to the 'Ordinance on the Publication of Guri City Administrative News,' ▲Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun committed a unilateral act of deleting the council news section from 'Guri News' without prior consultation with the council, and ▲they condemned Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun’s act as a violation of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and citizens' right to know.

The Guri City Council had requested the inclusion of a ‘5-minute speech’ containing personal opinions of Democratic Party members that seemed to blame Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun for the suspension of GH’s relocation in Gyeonggi Province in the April 2025 issue of 'Guri News.'

The city of Guri explained that such claims by the Democratic Party members of the Guri City Council are completely unfounded and amount to mere petulance without understanding the meaning of the ordinance or the constitution. First, Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the 'Ordinance on the Publication of Guri City Administrative News' states that “The following contents should be avoided to provide correct information to citizens.” Examples of content that should not be published include ▲biased content that may confuse residents’ judgment ▲promotion of political parties and one-sided claims of specific organizations.

The content requested by the Democratic Party members of the Guri City Council to be published in 'Guri News' was one-sided claims by political parties and organizations, which according to the ordinance should not be published. Although the publication follows lawful procedures based on the ordinance, complaining because it did not go their way is a childish act no different from a child’s tantrum.

The claim that the council news was deleted unilaterally without prior consultation with the council is also completely false. On the 18th, the Guri City Public Relations Team leader requested by phone that the council revise the content as it was deemed inappropriate for publication in 'Guri News.' On the 19th, the team leader met Democratic Party members in person to request revisions once more, explaining that due to the tight publication schedule, failure to revise might make publication impossible.

However, most Democratic Party members refused to revise, and the article could not be published as a result. Therefore, it is not 'Guri News' but the Democratic Party members of the Guri City Council who are hiding facts and delivering one-sided opinions to citizens.

Lastly, the claim that the freedom of expression and citizens' right to know guaranteed by the constitution were seriously violated is a laughable incident born out of ignorance. A certain member of the Guri City Council cited Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, which states, “All citizens shall enjoy freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association, and no censorship or licensing of speech, the press, assembly, or association shall be recognized,” arguing that Guri City infringed on constitutionally guaranteed freedom of publication.

However, the constitution means that anyone can freely express their opinions through publication or assembly, not that one can freely publish their opinions in publications issued by other institutions. This is a straightforward interpretation that anyone can understand without special education. Yet, it is shameful that a city council member distorts this and states it in a public statement.

Moreover, the publisher of 'Guri News' is the Mayor of Guri, and naturally, the city holds editorial rights. As the head of the city and publisher, reviewing the content of the city’s periodic publication in advance and requesting revisions to content that violates the ordinance cannot be claimed as ‘censorship’ or ‘oppression.’ Such claims are absurd and a reversal of cause and effect.

On the 14th, Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun and Guri City Council Chairman Shin Dong-hwa met and agreed on attendance at the ‘347th Guri City Council Extraordinary Session,’ creating an atmosphere of coexistence through the media. However, behind the scenes, they showed a duplicitous attitude by attempting to publish an article in the newsletter that shifts all responsibility to the mayor. This is not the behavior of people who should join hands for the development of Guri City.

Guri City will take this incident as a lesson and strive even harder to ensure that 'Guri News' provides accurate and useful information to citizens. Through this, the city aims to communicate with citizens and become a 'Guri News' that works together with its citizens.

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