Tuesday, January 08, 2008

[The Chosun Ilbo, January 4 2007] Who is KBS President Jung Yun-joo?

In his New Year’s address, KBS President Jung Yun-joo said “arrogant and domineering powers” must be subject to “ruthless criticism.” The Roh Moo-hyun administration chose a truly noble individual to lead the state-run broadcaster: nobody had ever imagined such words would come out of Jung’s own mouth.

Who is Jung? He is the man who orchestrated 48 hours of non-stop broadcasts to stir up opposition against efforts to impeach President Roh, when the motion to oust him was passed by the National Assembly. Who is Jung? He stood at the vanguard of the Roh administration’s efforts to deny the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea by broadcasting dramas, made with taxpayer’s money and aired on public airwaves, that portrayed the founders of our country as collaborators with the Japanese. Who is Jung? Trying to match the anti-American sentiment of the elite within the Roh administration, Jung tried to fool the public by authorizing the broadcast of a one-hour documentary on Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez that praised him as a freedom fighter resisting neo-liberalism and as a role model for Koreans.

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And from the very mouth of this man came the words that arrogant and domineering powers must be subject to ruthless criticism. Words fail. Jung must think that the public is blind and deaf. He seems afraid of nothing: the public should teach him a lesson.

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