Just after the appointment of a new chief public relations officer who said he has a deep knowledge of the president’s philosophy of government, push briefings in the presidential office environment have been declining again. When officials in the presidential office react unilaterally to delicate difficulties, there are also issues about ‘banning contact with the media’ in the presidential workplace.
Considering that Kim Eun-hye, the new head of general public relations, was appointed on the 21st of very last thirty day period, the amount of deal with-to-confront push briefings at the presidency’s business has been reducing swiftly. In the 17th day due to the fact Kim was announced, Kim has held only six official briefings. Except for two briefings on the 5th, which were being carried out as an crisis get the job done program because of to the typhoon warning, daily briefings are counted in a single hand.
There was also a sizeable reduction in the range of briefing periods for speakers and deputy speakers. From the seventh working day following replacing the head of general public relations, the spokesman Kang In-sunshine has been briefing four situations. Deputy Speaker Lee Jae-myung also turned tricky to come across during the briefing. An formal from the president’s place of work, who fulfilled with reporters at the again briefing session on the 31st of last thirty day period, joked, declaring, “There was no briefing, so inquiries about the reporters’ regret arrived down.”
At to start with, spokesman Kang In-seon expressed his will to hold two briefings a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, on a regular basis in May, which is the initially month of President Yoon’s inauguration. Since then, this promise has not been retained, but the briefing has ordinarily been held after a day, and Deputy Speaker Jae-myung Lee also achieved with reporters at a similar level. Previous Head of Public Relations Choi Young-beom executed briefings and background classes that complemented the speakers’ briefings, focusing on specific concerns. Nevertheless, Kim’s appointment as main government led to a shrinking conversation channel.
What has turn out to be rather lively is expressing a issue of view via a ‘written brief’. Right after Kim Eun-hye was appointed Chief General public Relations, penned briefing classes had been held 3 instances below the identify Chief General public Relations, 9 instances less than the identify Spokesman Kang In-solar, and 2 moments less than the name of the Deputy Speaker Lee Jae-myung. Responses to sensitive concerns these kinds of as why the armed forces is liable for guarding the presidential residence, studies that the number of law enforcement staff mobilized for the president’s safety and safety have elevated, and the debate over the resource of the extras worn by 1st Lady Kim Gun-hee came out for the duration of her trip abroad in a assertion from the spokesperson’s office environment.
In question and answer classes by means of facial area-to-face briefings, fundamental answers to these difficulties arise. For instance, in a dilemma and solution session on the 5th, in a Q&A session with officials and reporters in the presidential office environment, the Democratic Party of Korea filed a criticism in opposition to President Yoon pertaining to Kim Gun-hee’s alleged cure of the Inventory price tag of Deutsche Motors. An formal from the president’s place of work replied, “I am only these days fully commited to my responsibility and my position as the supervisor to safeguard the life and safety of the folks. There is almost nothing more or less that I can incorporate.”
On this working day, the briefing products of the officers of the presidential place of work have been also dispersed as a de facto ‘redacted version’ with some deleted. On this day, as President Yoon went on urgent responsibility, a dilemma was questioned about what to have on or rest, and the portion in which the officer answered, “(I saw him on the way to do the job) his trousers changed” and “He would seem to be perfectly prepared” are missing. While the content was cited as an short article by the mainstream media soon after the Q&A, it disappeared from the components dispersed by the presidential business office, and there was no posture in the presidential office environment when a reporter requested the explanation in a chat room related
There are also criticisms that the president’s workplace has issued a ‘ban on getting in contact with reporters’ to tackle the leaking of delicate information and facts. These are the stories the presidential workplace is tackling with media make contact with because of to ‘security issues’ in the course of action of conducting inside inspections below the guise of ‘human renewal’. There are also abnormal stories that various media stores are reporting that it has become tricky for genuine reporters to report by the president’s office.
On the 31st of final month, Yonhap News (‘security accident’ Yongsan reshuffle..reporter ban) prompted the JoongAng Ilbo on the 1st of this thirty day period (“Only the staff members are functioning, not the senior executives..yy the to start with time I see this variety of change” increasing anger), Information1 on the 3rd ( The storm just after personnel restructuring?… The president’s office environment was shrunk by ‘questions’) and’ r Hankyoreh on the 5th (the office of the president that turned a difficulty when he opened his mouth, he sooner or later closed his mouth), etcetera., criticizing this coverage.
The presidential office’s regulate in excess of media get in touch with was obvious throughout the Lee Myung-bak administration. The Dong-A Ilbo documented that Lee Myung-bak’s Blue Property ordered him to report in advance if he had get hold of with a reporter in 2008, the initially 12 months of his inauguration. In November of the subsequent calendar year, he was criticized by reporters in and out of the push for selling a public information and facts officer program that unifies the reporting windows in every single secretariat’s business. Coincidentally, this is wherever Kim Eun-hye, the present-day head of general public relations, created her occupation as a spokeswoman for the Blue Property.
There are fears among reporters in the presidential business that it will be hard to boost interaction channels in the long term. A reporter said, “Chief Kim seems to believe it’s his career to control messages. “It looks that the loyalty to the president is high,” he mentioned. Yet another reporter pointed out, “President Yoon Seok-yeol emphasized communication, but I believe he is deemed to improve the public relations line to enable the media to compose the placement ideal by the presidential business.”
