Presidential office demands apology from broadcaster over U.S. beef reports

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae called on top
executives of a local broadcaster Friday to apologize and step down over a report
about the dangers of consuming U.S. beef that prosecutors allege was distorted.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan made the demands after the prosecution on
Thursday formally indicted five employees -- four producers and a script writer
-- of broadcaster MBC on charges of defaming government officials by producing
and airing what it said were biased reports about U.S. beef.
"I think this case, if it had happened in another country, would have led to a
public apology and resignation of the entire management of the company," the
spokesman told reporters.
Months of violent street protests ensued after the Lee Myung-bak administration
agreed to lift the country's near five-year-old ban on U.S. beef imports that was
imposed after an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States.
The prosecution charged Thursday that the broadcaster's biased and distorted
reports by MBC's weekly investigative program "PD Notebook" were specifically
aimed at arousing public discontent and tarnishing the image of the Lee
administration.
"Such distortions and seemingly deliberate mistranslations led ignorant viewers
into believing that they faced a large threat from mad cow disease," prosecutors
have said.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesman's office said Thursday it was "astonished" to learn the
broadcaster had intentionally aired distorted reports.
"It has been found that reports by MBC's PD Notebook were entirely biased and
distorted. Clear evidence has been found that it was not a mere mistake in the
process but that the producers had intentionally altered facts with ill
intentions," the office said in a released statement.
Spokesman Lee dismissed criticism that the government was using MBC's case to
oppress the media.
"A news outlet that does not have a gate-keeping mechanism and where subjective
conclusions override objective truths cannot be called a news outlet," the
spokesman said. Allowing such practice would be same as "letting a drunk person
take the wheel of a vehicle," he said.
But controversy heightened over the government's rash embrace of the
prosecution's conclusions even before the court proceedings.
The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman acknowledged court findings may be different from
those presented by the prosecution, but claimed the public has already decided
who is to blame.
"I understand there could be such a controversy and we will have to wait and see
how the court finally decides on the case, but I do believe a public judgment has
already been made," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)