Ruling and Opposition Parties Cry Out to "Eradicate Fake News"... Ultimately Repeating Political Strife

Limits of Partisan Interpretation Over Fake News
Leads to Lawsuits and Accusations... Repeating Old Political Patterns

The ruling and opposition parties have both stepped forward to eradicate fake news circulating during the impeachment crisis. However, instead of engaging in debates to verify information, they are repeating the usual political conflicts by immediately jumping into lawsuits and accusations, interpreting information in a partisan manner.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung attended the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 6th, taking notes while watching a demonstration of the Democratic Police Substation. Photo by Yonhap News

The Democratic Party's Public Communication Committee launched the platform 'Minju Police Station' on the 6th to respond to false and manipulated information, receiving reports and complaints about fake news. From the 6th to the 13th, a total of 35,129 cases of false and manipulated information were submitted to Minju Police Station. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, has also called for concentrating the party's efforts on responding to fake news. At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 13th, he said, "Fake news is the enemy of democracy," adding, "The Democratic Party will mobilize all its capabilities to strictly hold accountable those who disturb the country's order by relying on fake news and will expel them from society."

The People Power Party's Media Special Committee has also organized a Fake News Response Team and a Real News Discovery Team under its umbrella since the end of last month and continues its activities. The Real News Discovery Team is composed of staff members in their 30s, and the head of the Fake News Response Team is Park Min-young, a former presidential office administrator in her 30s, aiming to respond swiftly to fake news with a young organization. The Real News Discovery Team provided as real news the U.S. State Department's stance that it was ready to cooperate with Han Duck-soo, then acting president and prime minister, and Choi Sang-mok, acting deputy prime minister and minister of strategy and finance, on the 27th and 28th of last month.

Launch of Fake News-Related Organizations by Ruling and Opposition Parties During Impeachment Crisis... Unable to Escape Partisanship

Democratic Party of Korea's Kim Hyun, Chair of the Public Communication Committee, along with members and officials from the Legal Committee, Public Communication Committee, and False Information Monitoring Team, held a press conference on the 10th in front of the Civil Complaints Office at the National Investigation Headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, to file a complaint against the People Power Party's "Real News Discovery Team." Photo by Yonhap News

Controversy continues over the fake news-related organizations. Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi stated, "If fake news related to incitement of rebellion is spread via KakaoTalk, it can be sufficiently punished," adding, "Even ordinary people who simply spread it will be firmly prosecuted for incitement of rebellion." As the party specified the scope of fake news, allegations, and targets for prosecution, the political sphere immediately engaged in a debate over 'KakaoTalk censorship.' The Democratic Party's False and Manipulated Information Monitoring Team under the Public Communication Committee explained at a press conference, "The Democratic Party neither has the authority nor the intention to look into individual KakaoTalk messages or invade privacy," but after questions such as "Shouldn't suspicion be allowed to check public authority?" Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Moon-seok abruptly left the press conference venue.

On the 5th, the Real News Discovery Team released a press statement titled "Turning a Blind Eye to the KCTU's Violation of Public Authority and Police Assault Incident." The press release included an anonymous post from the workplace community 'Blind' stating that a police officer was beaten by members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and fell into a coma. However, it was revealed that no police officer was in a coma. The press release has since been deleted. A KCTU official stated, "We are considering filing a complaint against the People Power Party."

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

The fake news disputes between the ruling and opposition parties are ultimately repeating the existing political pattern of escalating into legal battles. On the 10th, the Democratic Party filed a complaint with the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Headquarters for defamation by false facts against Lee Sang-hwi, chairman of the People Power Party Media Special Committee, and a member of the Real News Discovery Team, who described a foreign press briefing by Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung as a secret meeting with Chinese intelligence agencies. In response, the People Power Party Media Special Committee plans to file a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for impersonating a public official, claiming that Minju Police Station impersonated the police. The People Power Party Media Special Committee stated, "They are exceeding the duties of police officers by accepting crime reports through the 'Report' tab, among other actions."