Hamyang-gun Ignores Communication with Residents... "Falling into a Closed Atmosphere"

Communication-Focused Fair Administration Military Government Slogan Colorless

Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has completely blocked the space for public opinion communication within the county office, undermining the county administration slogan of ‘communicative and fair administration.’

Hamyang-gun does not operate a press room or even a briefing room, which is commonly run by almost all basic local governments nationwide, drawing criticism as a ‘closed space’ that is cut off from gathering public opinion.

A view of Hamyang County Office.

Hamyang-gun abolished its county office press room in 2015. Following the Roh Moo-hyun administration, issues related to press room abuses became a nationwide topic, and Hamyang-gun closed the press room as a measure to prevent a local journalist cartel.

However, unlike most local governments that transitioned to briefing rooms after closing press rooms, Hamyang-gun has not provided any separate space for media reporters to stay since then. It is almost unprecedented for a local government not to operate even a briefing room nationwide except for Hamyang-gun.

Regarding this, a local civic group official said, “In the 2010s, successive county heads resigned mid-term due to election law violations, and independent candidates were elected, leading to a closed atmosphere that distances itself from the media,” adding, “The current county head should at least establish a briefing room now and provide opportunities for anyone to express opinions about county administration.”

In response, a Hamyang-gun official explained, “Due to the limited space in the county office, we have not been able to open a press room or briefing room.”

He added, “Currently, when briefings are necessary, we use meeting rooms, and there is no separate space to use as a briefing room. Although it is difficult at the moment, we will explore various ways to secure a briefing room space.”