Ever since the Hankyoreh was founded and declared it was going to be a newspaper independent of power and capital it suffered trials that could fill a book. Its editorial offices have been searched and editorial writers have been arrested. Its building has been damaged by acts of violence its employees beaten. Some of the serious acts of press suppression that remain a mystery were perpetrated by the Agency for National Security Planning (NASP), as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) used to be called, in 1996 and 1997.
Based on distorted information accumulated during years of authoritarian governments, what the NASP did was draft a document titled "Comprehensive Analysis of the Hankyoreh Sinmun" and in it define the Hankyoreh as a "newspaper that support pro-North, leftist elements." Filled with red-baiting, the document sought to pressure government agencies and conglomerates to stop advertising with the Hankyoreh or advertise less, and to pressure financial institutions not to lend to it. The general view is that the reason such actions were undertaken under the more procedurally democratic Civilian Government was because the Hankyoreh was tenaciously pursuing the corrupt activities of then president Kim Young Sam's son Kim Hyeon Cheol and for directly opposing revisions for the worse in the legislation providing the NASP's legal basis.
It is inexcusable to have the NIS trying to wipe away the truth about its operations designed to ruin the Hankyoreh that took place not 10 years ago, when it has formed a special committee to inquire into the truth about negative aspects of its legacy that have been ignored for decades. What separates the Participatory Government from previous governments more than anything else is that it does not "privatize" agencies in the state power apparatus for extra-legal operations. Members of the Grand National Party (GNP) praise it for that as well. However, you cannot completely exclude the possibility that, depending on the government, there could be a dirty conspiracy by an intelligence agency trying to destroy a media organization. The NIS should take the initiative in revealing the truth about its earlier attempts to destroy the Hankyoreh and by doing so make sure similar actions are never taken again.
The Hankyoreh, 7 July 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Uncover Truth About Attacks on Hankyoreh |
