S. Korean TV Journalists Tell of Fabricating News, Begin 48-Hour Walkout

Nearly 100 South Korean journalists at a major government-controlled television station declared on Wednesday that they had been “distorting and fabricating the facts and the truth” for years under President Chun Doo Hwan, and they staged a 48-hour walkout beginning today at the station in an effort to force the government to stop dictating how they cover the news.

All four of the nation’s broadcasting networks have become “the propaganda tools of the government” since Chun forcibly merged them seven years ago, the journalists said, and they have “invited the mistrust of the people.”

“We hereby announce that we repent for our past attitude,” the reporters, producers and editors from the Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. said in the statement that was signed by 96 employees.

List of Demands

Citing Chun’s July 1 announcement of sweeping democratic reforms, including the abolition or revision of the country’s Draconian press-control laws, the station’s employees said they would extend their boycott of all programming and news coverage beyond the 48-hour deadline if their demands are not met.

“We are now on the verge of full democracy, the tide of which no one can stop,” the statement added.

Among those demands is the reinstatement of dozens of reporters and producers who were fired by all four networks for violating government censorship or the National Security Law through their broadcasts. The employees demanded that police intelligence agents be banned from entering the newsroom, and they called for the firing of the station’s president, Hwang Sun Pil and other government-appointed management personnel. Hwang is a former spokesman for Chun.

Call for Resignations

“The management has so far played the role of cronies to the present regime, and therefore they must resign,” the journalists declared.

Munhwa Broadcasting is the only South Korean television network that is not completely owned by the government’s Korea Broadcasting System. The government owns 80% of Munhwa; 20% of the company is in the hands of private shareholders.

The chairman of Chun’s ruling party, Roh Tae Woo, in first proposing the sweeping reforms on June 29 in an effort to put an end to massive anti-government unrest, called for the abolition or drastic revision of the government’s highly restrictive controls on the press.

Information Minister Lee Woong Hee told reporters on Tuesday that he hoped some action could be taken on liberalizing the press laws by the end of the month, but the government has yet to begin the process of changing the laws.

All Workers Warned

At the same time, however, Labor Ministry officials have been warning workers in all fields against launching job actions similar to the one by the Munhwa journalists.

Since Chun’s nationally televised July 1 speech, the ministry said, there have been at least 58 illegal walkouts, sit-ins and organized strikes at textile plants, factories and other industries that form the backbone of South Korea’s so-called “economic miracle,” which has made it one of Asia’s fastest-developing nations.

On Wednesday, Chun himself, during the first meeting of his newly reorganized Cabinet, ordered his ministers to maintain strict discipline in the country and warned against “social confusion” during the process he has labeled “democratization.”

“You should wisely cope with the current situation, which sees the upsurge of too much public expectation,” Chun told his new Cabinet during a meeting at the Blue House, the presidential residence.

Chun Cautions New Cabinet

“Efforts should be exerted to prevent illegal group activities . . . through the strict application of law,” he added.

On a day when the entire nation came to a virtual standstill for 20 minutes during a routine monthly air raid drill, Chun also warned his ministers to be on guard for attempts by Communist North Korea to capitalize on any signs of social disorder here.

Chun insisted, though, that he is sincere about his proposal to gradually bring democracy to his nation seven years after he took the reins of power during a military coup.

“The foremost task of the new Cabinet lies in implementing at an early date the democratic reform measures in line with the July 1 special announcement,” Chun was quoted as saying.

There was no story, however, on the broadcast-journalists’ walkout on any of the four networks or in any of today’s editions of Seoul’s state-controlled daily newspapers.