Blue House's Protest Over Bloomberg Report Sparks Ruling and Opposition Party Clash... Opposition: "Pressuring Foreign Media," Ruling Party: "Correcting the Facts"

Democratic Party: "Correcting Factual Inaccuracies Is the Government's Duty"

Opposition's Jang Donghyuk: "This Is Not About Feeling Wronged and Fighting the Media"

The ruling and opposition parties have clashed head-on over the Blue House's letter of protest sent to Bloomberg. The People Power Party criticized it as "pressuring foreign media," while the Democratic Party of Korea countered that it was "a natural response to correct factual inaccuracies."

Jang Donghyuk, Leader of the People Power Party, posted on social media on the 16th, stating, "It seems President Lee Jaemyung feels deeply wronged," adding, "He even demanded an official apology from the U.S. economic media outlet Bloomberg." Previously, the Blue House sent an official request for correction and a letter of protest to Bloomberg after the outlet interpreted Policy Chief Kim Yongbeom's "national dividend" proposal as a plan to recoup and distribute "excess profits" from artificial intelligence (AI) companies, clarifying that this was not true.

Jang Donghyuk, Leader of the People Power Party. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Jang emphasized, "This is not a matter of feeling wronged and fighting with the media," asserting, "The people who are truly wronged are the investors who suffered losses and the public." He went on to target Policy Chief Kim, saying, "He repeatedly used terms such as 'excess profits' and 'national dividend,' and even cited the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund as a model," adding, "No matter how much they insist it was a misunderstanding, their true intentions are clear."

Park Chungkwon, Head of Public Relations for the Central Election Committee of the same party, also commented, "The government, which used to silence domestic media, is now demanding apologies from foreign media as well," and criticized, "Blaming the foreign press by saying it was 'excess tax revenue,' not 'excess profits,' is nothing but wordplay."

In contrast, the Democratic Party argued that the Blue House's response was appropriate. Lee Juhee, the party's deputy spokesperson, stated in a written briefing, "It is the government's obvious duty to correct factual inaccuracies," and added, "Requesting corrections to reports that do not align with objective facts, based on accurate evidence, is a reasonable measure to maintain trust in state administration and to resolve economic uncertainty."

She further emphasized, "What the public wants is not wasteful political strife, but bipartisan cooperation for livelihoods and the economy," and urged, "Stop political offensives using fake news and join efforts to protect the national interest."

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