Former MBC President and Lawmaker Kim Jang-gyeom Attacks Lee Jae-myung: "Is No-Young Broadcasting a Pet Dog?"

Press Union, Broadcast Journalists Association, and Reporters Association Also Criticize
"They Shut Up When Given the Right to Recommend Public Broadcasters' Directors"

Kim Jang-gyeom, a member of the People Power Party and former president of MBC, launched a fierce attack on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who criticized the media as "the prosecution's pet."

Assemblyman Kim Jang-gyeom [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 15th, Kim shared an article about Lee on social networking services (SNS) and wrote, "Then, is the so-called collusion between the press and prosecution actually a fabrication of collusion between the prosecution and the media? Boiling Saengtaetang (fresh fish soup) to exhaustion, blowing the whistle on the Daejang-dong scandal's main culprit swap, and suddenly putting a huge number 1 on the weather corner?does this 'No-Young Broadcasting' clearly seem to be the Democratic Party and Lee Jae-myung's pet? It's puzzling."

On the 16th, while defending Lee's remarks, Kim criticized Rep. Yang Moon-seok for using harsh expressions such as "giregi" (a portmanteau of "reporter" and "garbage") and wrote, "If such remarks had come from Lee and Rep. Yang in the People Power Party, how would organizations like the Korean Federation of Media Workers' Unions, the Broadcast Journalists Association, the Journalists Association, and the PD Association have reacted?" "Why are these groups so quiet?" he asked, adding, "Could it be that they are keeping silent because the Broadcasting Act is being amended to grant the right to recommend public broadcasting directors?"

On the 14th, Lee appeared at the Seoul Central District Court for a trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and called the prosecution's indictment of him over suspicions of North Korean remittances by Ssangbangwool "a colossal fabrication." He claimed, "(The media) are not reporting the truth but are instead distorting and fabricating like the prosecution's pet." He added, "Because of the media's wrongful attitudes that stray from their fundamental role, democracy in this country is being damaged, and the truth is sinking to the bottom of the sea."

Lee's remarks have triggered continuous offensives from the ruling party. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo said, "Lee's outrageous remarks are not only an insult to the media but also an insult to the people and a denial of liberal democracy," adding, "In liberal democracy, even an imperial ruler cannot reign above the constitution."

Former Rep. Yoo Seung-min also wrote on SNS, "If there were media outlets that 'received information from the prosecution and eagerly distorted and fabricated it,' as Lee claims, he himself could submit arbitration requests or file lawsuits against those media outlets with evidence," adding, "When I hear such gangster-like abusive language that lumps the entire media together as 'the prosecution's dogs,' I can only think that if such a person becomes president, the country will be ruined."

Rep. Na Kyung-won criticized, "If the media reports exposing Lee Jae-myung's flaws are called pets, and only reports siding with Lee and the Democratic Party are considered media, is this a rehearsal for dictatorship?"