The Presidential Office informs without prior discussion about the registration of the press corps
The Presidential Office is embroiled in controversy as it has officially included three pro-government YouTube channels in the press corps.
The newly registered media outlets are 'News Factory' hosted by Kim Eo-jun, 'Gobael News,' and 'Convenience Store for Reporting,' which have been evaluated as having favorable broadcasts towards President Lee Jae-myung.
On the morning of the 24th, the Presidential Office unilaterally notified the press corps secretariat that these three media outlets had been registered as part of the official press corps.
The reporters from these media outlets have also been included in the group chat for sharing the President’s schedule and messages.
Presidential Office Press Support Office: "The three meet the registration requirements"
The Presidential Office’s Press Support Office explained, "By reinstating the Korea Internet Journalists Association, which had been excluded during the previous government, we registered the three outlets that meet the entry requirements of the association." The Korea Internet Journalists Association has over 90 internet media outlets as its members.
Typically, there has been a precedent for prior consultation with the press corps when registering press members for central government agencies, but this time it has been broken. The decision was made unilaterally by the Presidential Office.
There are criticisms that specific media were selectively registered without announcement and questions about whether they chose a 'certain political inclination.'
A Presidential Office official stated that this was a "decision based on operating standards," but no specific criteria were presented. Eventually, as the controversy grew, they decided to gather opinions through consultation with the press corps secretariat.
"Allegations of favoritism towards YouTube"
In some political circles, there are calls that if the press corps is to be expanded, then opposition-leaning YouTube channels should also be given the same opportunities.
A political insider noted, "It seems that the media is favored for only telling pleasant stories rather than for monitoring and criticizing the press."
President Lee Jae-myung previously mentioned during his presidential campaign that "opportunity should be given to responsible individual media," and throughout the election process, he made several appearances on pro-government YouTube channels including Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory and Lee Dong-hyung TV.
Image source: Kim Eo-jun / youtube 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Hard News Factory,' News1
