Gominjeong "Moon Facebook post? Difficult to answer who wrote it"

Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and former Blue House spokesperson in 2019, is listening to President Moon Jae-in's remarks at the Asia News Network board meeting held at the Blue House. / Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and former spokesperson for the Blue House, emphasized on the 4th that "the message is more important than who wrote it" regarding the controversy over President Moon Jae-in's Facebook post encouraging nurses.

Go appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" that day and said, "(The controversy over President Moon's Facebook post) seems to be spreading into trivial issues," adding, "It was intended to offer comfort and encouragement to the nurses who are currently working hard."

Regarding the process of writing President Moon's Facebook post, she explained, "I thought it was similar to an anchor's script," and said, "Anchors' scripts, especially openings, are sometimes written by writers or reporters who covered the scene, but sometimes the anchor revises it from start to finish, or the desk edits it. If you ask whose it is, it's really difficult to answer."

On reports that the Blue House Planning and Coordination Office wrote President Moon's Facebook post, she said, "If there is an operator and it is said that person wrote it, there will be criticism of ghostwriting, and if it is said that the president wrote everything himself, there will be criticism asking whether he should apologize for that statement."

When asked, "Does that mean there are cases where the president writes everything or adds some parts?" Go replied, "All possibilities coexist," adding, "Even I do not know what kind of system and structure is currently in place. There are various possibilities depending on the case, including the president carefully reviewing each part."

She then emphasized, "(What is most important) is the message the president wants to send to the people through that news."

Earlier, on the 2nd, President Moon posted on Facebook, "I comfort the nurses who are protecting the medical sites abandoned by doctors and express deep gratitude and respect for their dedication and hard work," adding, "They have to bear the burden of doctors who have been on strike for a long time, so how difficult and hard it must be."

He continued, "As the medical gap increases and patients' inconvenience grows, they also have to endure criticism and verbal abuse," and added, "During the recent heatwave, news that medical staff who could not take off their protective suits at outdoor screening clinics were collapsing touched the hearts of the people. Although they were referred to as medical staff, the public knows well that most of them were nurses."

In response, opposition parties pointed out that the post encouraging nurses was intended to criticize doctors who are continuing collective strikes in opposition to the government's medical policies such as expanding medical school quotas, sparking a so-called controversy of 'dividing' doctors and nurses.