{"id":2204353,"date":"2024-03-21T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T23:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2204353"},"modified":"2024-03-20T15:03:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T06:03:48","slug":"senior-presidential-aide-resigns-over-intimidating-remarks-to-journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/senior-presidential-aide-resigns-over-intimidating-remarks-to-journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior presidential aide resigns over intimidating remarks to journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hwang Sang-moo, senior presidential secretary for civil and social agenda, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20240318102352001?section=politics\/all\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">resigned<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Wednesday following pressure from ruling and opposition parties. He <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hani.co.kr\/arti\/society\/media\/1132360.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">jokingly warned<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> journalists on March 15 about potential consequences for publishing stories critical of the government, referencing a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joongang.co.kr\/article\/2265385#home\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1988 incident<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in which military intelligence soldiers stabbed a journalist in retaliation for writing news stories critical of the Roh Tae-woo administration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Yoon Suk-yeol accepted Hwang\u2019s resignation amid growing concerns within the ruling <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplepowerparty.kr\/news\/comment_view\/BBSDD0001\/100802\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People Power Party<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (PPP) that the controversy could negatively impact the party\u2019s prospects in next month\u2019s general elections, particularly among swing voters in the Seoul metropolitan area. While the main opposition <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theminjoo.kr\/main\/sub\/news\/view.php?brd=11&amp;post=1203014\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Democratic Party<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (DP) welcomed Hwang\u2019s resignation, the minor opposition <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice21.org\/newhome\/board\/board_view.html?num=162922&amp;page=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Green Justice Party<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> criticized Yoon\u2019s decision not to dismiss him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hwang resigned on the last day South Korea hosted the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/south-korea-hosts-democracy-summit-as-its-own-democratic-principles-erode\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summit for Democracy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from March 18 to 20. Revelations of Hwang\u2019s remarks invoked memories of the country\u2019s authoritarian past, stoking intense criticism from the Yoon administration\u2019s critics. Before the summit, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/v-dem.net\/documents\/44\/v-dem_dr2024_highres.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">V-Dem Institute\u2019s Democracy Report 2024<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> highlighted South Korea\u2019s decline in the Liberal Democracy Index, citing issues such as the Yoon administration\u2019s punitive actions against the previous government, assaults on gender equality and deteriorating freedom of expression and press.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korean journalists and media outlets have faced increasing pressure from the government for perceived negative coverage. In 2022, when major broadcaster MBC aired a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/11\/yoons-media-ban-latest-example-of-south-korean-elites-disdain-for-free-press\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hot-mic clip<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Yoon appearing to call U.S. lawmakers \u201cbastards,\u201d the president immediately announced an \u201cinquiry\u201d into press outlets that reported his gaffe and demanded an apology. The situation escalated when the PPP filed criminal complaints against the broadcaster and four individual journalists. The Seoul Western District Court <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20240112004200315\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ordered<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> MBC in January to correct its report on Yoon\u2019s remarks, threatening daily fines for noncompliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the latest <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.co.kr\/gallupdb\/reportContent.asp?seqNo=1465\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallup Korea poll<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> indicates that the PPP is ahead of the DP in favorability numbers, the lead is not insurmountable, with 20 days left before the April 10 general elections.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hwang Sang-moo, senior presidential secretary for civil and social agenda, resigned on Wednesday following pressure from ruling and opposition parties. He jokingly warned journalists on March 15 about potential consequences for publishing stories critical of the government, referencing a 1988 incident in which military intelligence soldiers stabbed a journalist in retaliation for writing news stories [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2204354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[27],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senior presidential aide resigns over intimidating remarks to journalists - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/senior-presidential-aide-resigns-over-intimidating-remarks-to-journalists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senior presidential aide resigns over intimidating remarks to journalists - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hwang Sang-moo, senior presidential secretary for civil and social agenda, resigned on Wednesday following pressure from ruling and opposition parties. 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