On the 28th, the Hankyoreh said, “I deeply apologize to the readers,” in a report on the assault of a taxi driver by Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu on the 28th.
On the afternoon of that day, the Hankyoreh said, “The article that the Hankyoreh dealt with in relation to the assault of a taxi driver by Deputy Minister of Justice Yong-gu Lee on December 21 last year is controversial. And was insufficient to convey the exact truth. As a result, it is difficult to deny that the context could be distorted and misleading.”
On the 26th, 41 reporters from the Hankyoreh on-site criticized the company’s legal reports on the desk as being oriented toward the regime. The article raised by reporters is the report of the assault case by Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu on December 21 last year. 41 reporters criticized the report as “an unreasonable side leading to misinformation.”
The article said, “Amid controversy that the police did not apply the reinforced specific crime aggravated punishment law (special price law) to the assault of a taxi driver by Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, this case has not yet been classified as an incident that occurred in the prosecution’s investigation guidelines. Reporters on the scene said, “It was the result of receiving the data received from Prosecutor Chu Miae Line without actually checking the facts to make public opinion that even though this case was sent to the prosecution, the special price law could not be applied anyway.” He pointed out that even though there have been several on-site reports of data, I would like to ask the Director General of the reason why only some of the contents were revised and put them on the paper.”
The Hankyoreh said in an apology on the 28th, “The article posted on the Internet on the same day with the title of’It is not in operation after reaching the destination’ dealt with the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office of’Traffic Crime Investigation Practice’. In the beginning, he said, “It was a simple assault, not a violation of the Special Price Act, so even if sent to the prosecution, it was a matter that would be dismissed as a result of the victim’s disapproval.”
The Hankyoreh said, “However, on the afternoon of the same day, the Certain Crimes Weighted Penalty Act (Special Pricing Act) was revised in 2015 and changed to be considered’operating even when the vehicle is temporarily stopped,’ and the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation guidelines did not properly reflect the revised Special Price Act I was belatedly grasping that it was in a state of being in a bad state.” Accordingly, it was revised on the Internet and reflected on page 9 of the next day’s paper newspaper. However, it was reported that’in the prosecution’s investigation guidelines, this case has not yet been classified as a’in operation’ case.’
The Hankyoreh Leisureism Commissioner remarked that it was a problem that he did not apologize immediately even though he pointed out the article.
Hankyoreh said, “On the 6th, Professor Shim Seok-tae of Semyung University, a member of the Hankyoreh Leisureism Committee, pointed out the problem of this article on the editorial office’s internal communication network. Professor Shim said,’Just because the time when (the internal guidelines of the district prosecutor’s office) was registered on the information network was 2016, it is clear that it cannot precede the revised law.’ The article itself emphasized that the time of registration was after the revision of the law was unnecessary. There is only a possibility of causing it,’ he said.
The Hankyoreh said, “Professor Shim said,’Although this article reported that the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office has not yet updated the practical guidelines, the guidelines have no public value to report as they have no effect on the effectiveness of the revised law. Nevertheless, he criticized that reporting the fact of such a sculpture is not to report the matter in context, but to distort or mislead the context.”
After the reporters’ statement, Lee Chun-jae, head of the social affairs department and Kim Tae-gyu, head of the legal team, announced their intention to resign from their positions on the 28th, and editor-in-chief Lim Seok-gyu also expressed his position on the situation. Director Lim said on the afternoon of the 28th, “I can tell you clearly that the article was not dealt with for the purpose of benefiting a specific political party or political power. I did not close my eyes intentionally to see if there were parts I could not see.”
Director Lim said, “It is true that the internal disagreement within the Hankyoreh is not today, but it has become more prominent recently. In particular, he added, “We will expand the discussion units in various forms as required by the statement and arrange a place to check the reports,” he added.
[관련 기사 : 한겨레 기자 ‘정치적 이해 따라 법조기사 작성’ 집단 성명]
Below is the entrance statement of the Hankyoreh editor-in-chief Lim Seok-gyu.
I thought deeply about why my juniors made such a statement. I tried to see the moon, not my fingers. It was difficult to find any other meaning other than the desire to make a good newspaper and implement proper journalism. As a reporter of the Hankyoreh, who has criticized power and capital without having a sanctuary, I believe it is a screaming cry not to undermine his pride. I want to start from accepting that heart completely.
It has been 10 months since I was the editor-in-chief. In retrospect, there are many things that I regret. Some made mistakes and made mistakes. I hesitated, missed the time, and backed down when I needed to stick more. I admit that there were also some unfair reports. However, it can be clearly stated that the article was not covered for the purpose of benefiting a specific political party or political power. I didn’t deliberately close my eyes to see if there were parts I couldn’t see.
There are several examples of legal reports in the statement. Some in-house members may disagree with what was discussed. However, there is a fear that the essence may be lost when refuting the cases or details mentioned in the statement continues. I don’t think that the young reporters’ awareness of the problem is limited to the cases mentioned in the statement. In addition to the cases mentioned above, we are well aware that the various issues that the Hankyoreh has dealt with so far are underlying. It is also the reason why the entire directorate, including me, is painfully looking back at the current situation. I think it would be better to exchange opinions in depth through discussions in a face-to-face or non-face-to-face manner regarding specific contents and progress. As for the conversation method, we will gather opinions of members and review various forms. In addition to the cases mentioned in the statement through dialogue, I think we will be able to exchange various opinions on the past reports and the editorial board’s decision-making process.
The disagreement within the Hankyoreh was not yesterday and today, but it is true that it has become more prominent recently. In particular, the deviation of thoughts surrounding legal reporting is often expressed as a conflict. Behind the legal report lies complex political and social issues. There is also an opinion that it should be viewed in the specific context of modern history. As a result, there are differences in viewpoints, and differences arise depending on the points emphasized. It goes without saying that the more you do, the more you have to stick to the facts. There were a lot of issues related to the law last year. These were sensitive issues, so I had to listen to the voices of the scene and check the facts more closely and examine them thoroughly, but there were many shortcomings. Most of all, even though I had the opportunity to improve, it hurts to miss it. When I found an error in the content, I am regretful what it would have been like to apologize and correct it more boldly.
This morning, the head of the social affairs department and the legal team leader announced their intention to resign. It’s not just two people’s responsibility, it’s not something that ends with two people being responsible. However, I decided to accept it after hard work. Instead, as the editor-in-chief who is responsible for the content, we will take the statements of reporters on the scene heavily and take responsibility for follow-up measures for fair reporting. As requested in the statement, we will expand the discussion unit in various forms and arrange a place to check the report. We will gather opinions and further refine our communication plans with reporters on the field. We are also planning to promptly prepare systems, organizations, and organizations that can faithfully reflect the voices of reporters on the site.
Reports without sanctuary on power and capital are the driving force for the Hankyoreh, which surpassed 10,000 units last year, to expand toward the future. As quoted in the statement, I reiterate the founding remarks of “will not aim to support or oppose a specific political party or political force.” As editor-in-chief, let’s look back on whether the signal for reporting without sanctuary was somewhat lacking. I hope that this statement will serve as an opportunity for productive debate and fierce debate over what good journalism the Hankyoreh should pursue.
There are some stories that cannot be included here due to various internal and external circumstances. In the future, we will talk and discuss through several places. Thank you.
January 28, 2021 Lim Seok-gyu
The following is an apology dated on the 28th of the Hankyoreh.
On December 21, last year, the Hankyoreh’s article on the assault case of a taxi driver by Deputy Minister of Justice Yong-gu Lee is in controversy. The article posted on the Internet on the same day titled’It is not’in operation’ after reaching the destination’ covered the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office’s’Traffic Crime Investigation Practice’, an internal guidelines for the district prosecution. In the beginning, there is a section in this article that says, “It was not a violation of the Special Privilege Act, but a simple assault, so even if sent to the prosecution, it was a matter that would be dismissed as a result of the victim’s disapproval.
However, on the afternoon of the same day, the Specific Crimes Weighted Penalty Act (Special Privilege Act) was amended in 2015, and it was changed to be considered’operating even if the vehicle is temporarily stopped’, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation guidelines did not properly reflect the revised Special Price Act. It was belatedly recognized that it was. The original article contained incorrect information. Accordingly, this was revised on the Internet and reflected on page 9 of the next day’s paper newspaper. However, he reported that “the prosecution’s investigation guidelines also revealed that this case has not yet been classified as a’in operation’ case.”
On January 6th, Seok-Tae Shim, a member of the Hankyoreh Leisureism Responsibility Committee, a professor at Semyung University Graduate School of Journalism, pointed out the problem of this article on the editorial office’s internal communication network. Professor Shim said, “Just because the time when (the internal guidelines of the district prosecution) was registered on the information network was 2016, it is clear that it cannot precede the revised law.” It is only possible to cause it.” Professor Sim continued, “Although this article reported the’fact’ that’the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office has not yet updated the practical guidelines’, the public value to report is that the guidelines have no effect on the validity of the revised law. Nonetheless, reporting such a’sculptural fact’ should be viewed as’there is a risk of distorting or misleading the context’ rather than reporting the matter’in context’.”
The report did not sufficiently confirm the facts, and was insufficient to convey the essence of the matter and the exact truth. As a result, it is difficult to deny that the context could be distorted and misleading. At the time when the Accountability Committee raised the issue, we belatedly identified the circumstances, but we did not apologize for giving the error and correcting the error clearly. It is also against the Hankyoreh’s reporting standards. We deeply apologize to our readers.
January 28, 2021 The Hankyoreh Newspaper
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