President Lee Jae-myung said to the SBS union, which pushed back against the presidential office's demand for an apology over "allegations of gang ties" raised during the 20th presidential campaign, that "freedom of the press does not mean press privilege." It came two days after the presidential office requested follow-up reports from all media outlets that reported the allegation, to the effect that it was "false," and demanded public apologies from the People Power Party and SBS "Unanswered Questions."
That morning, Lee shared on X (formerly Twitter) a post by historian Jeon Woo-yong criticizing the SBS union's claim of "press independence infringement," writing, "Rights come with duties, and freedom comes with responsibility." He also said, "If, for political purposes, one distorts facts and spreads lies while shirking the responsibility of fair and accurate reporting, then given the harmful impact, it is reasonable that the press bear greater responsibility than ordinary people."
Lee asked, "Isn't bearing responsibility and duty commensurate with freedom and rights consistent with the Constitution's ban on creating privileges and, by common sense, fair and reasonable?" He added, "Freedom without responsibility infringes on others' freedom and ultimately harms even one's own freedom and rights."
Earlier, Jeon wrote on Facebook, "When President Lee Jae-myung, the victim of SBS 'Unanswered Questions'' fabricated, false report, demanded an apology over the report, the SBS union strongly pushed back, calling it 'press independence infringement,'" adding, "Whether a prosecutor fabricates a case to indict or a reporter fabricates a case to report, they are essentially the same wrongdoing."
He continued, "The belief that they should be immune even when committing wrongdoing has been the shared conscious foundation supporting the 'legal-press vested-interest cartel,'" adding, "Before condemning the president, the SBS union should reflect on why the Yoon Suk-yeol prosecutorial dictatorship did not order SBS to cut off power and water."
◇ Jeang Young-ha, who raised the "allegations of gang ties," confirmed false by the Supreme Court
The "allegations of gang ties" were raised in Oct. 2021 by People Power Party figures based on claims by Park Cheol-min, an enforcer with the Seongnam crime organization International Mafia. They alleged that while serving as Seongnam mayor, Lee received 2 billion won in return for giving special favors to the International Mafia. In connection with this, attorney Jeang Young-ha, who represented Park, was indicted on charges of "announcing false information under the Public Official Election Act," and on the 12th the Supreme Court finalized a guilty verdict.
On the 19th, the presidential office said it would exercise the right to request follow-up reports against all media that reported the allegation. The next day on X, Lee wrote, "To prevent a repeat of burying a person in a grave of lies for political purposes, reflection and apologies are needed from the People Power Party that staged the fabricated expose and from fabricated broadcasts like Unanswered Questions," adding, "It may be wishful thinking, but I want to hear a sincere word of apology."