총 36페이지

02
Editorial
Open Your Eyes Wide,
or You Will be Trapped
A
leakofhydrochloricacidfumesoccurredatachemicalfactoryinthecityofGumi,NorthGyeongsang
Province,onSept.27.Inanexplosionfollowingtheleak,fiveworkerswerekilledand16otherswere
injured. The fumes itself is very harmful to humans and about 500 residents were exposed to great
danger.However,therewasnotanymentionontheseriousnessoftheleak.Instead,themediasimplyreported
thedecreasedpollutionlevelofthefumes.
On the next day, the media reported that there is a suspicion that a presidential candidate, Ahn Cheolsoo,
plagiarized in his academic papers. Seoul National University, where the candidate wrote his theses, said the
universityhasnotconfirmedthematter--theuniversitystatedonNov.16thepapersarenotplagiarizedwhich
raised the suspicion. Although the matter was unconfirmed, the media exaggerated the suspicion through
frequentreports.Withnewsrepeatedlyshowingthesuspicion,itbecamethebigissueamongpeopleduringthe
KoreanThanksgivingDay.Whileeveryonefocusedonthecandidate,thevictimsoftheGumileakcouldnot
getmuchattention.
It was 10 days after the leak that the government announced measures to help the victims. Despite the late
reaction of the government, the media only focused on the Ahn’s papers. Why did the media hesitate to
criticizethegovernmentforthelateinvestigationontheleak?Questionsarosethatthegovernmentorderedthe
mediatohidethedetailsoftheleakanddivertpeople’sattentionbyexaggeratingthesuspicionofplagiarized
paper.
What media provide us, are they always straight facts? From these two cases, we can see possibility of
mediareportingpartialinformation.Themediahasinfringedthepeople’srighttoknowandtheunconfirmed
informationfromthemediahasledtoconfusionamongpeople.
Ithasbeenonlyseveralmonthssincethestrikeformediaindependencehascalledoff.Withthegovernment
and government-related people controlling the media, reporters working for the media had been facing
problems reporting impartially and honestly. Even though the strike was called off, the doubt still lingers in
ourminds.Thetwocasesmentionedabovemayalsoreflectthedoubt.Itissaidthattheroleoftheintellectual,
including university students, is to keep watching the current affairs. Seeing the media intentionally
reportingbiasedinformationandleavingoutunfavorableincidents,weneedtotakeacriticallookatreports,
acknowledgingwecanbedeceived.
KangYoung-joon
Editor-in-Chief
Correction: The editorial of last issue contains an uncertain expression which might lead to a misinterpretaion. Jan-Hunrich Bieritz, an exchange student
from Germany, sent a correction of the statement “In Germany, the Czech Republic and other countries, sex offenders can be physically castrated.”
According to him, the constitution of Germany does not allow a physical castration against individual’s will. Criminals are not physically castrated without
theirwrittenconsent.Theyalsohavetobeolderthan25andbeinformedaboutallconsequencesandpossibleadverseeffectsinadvance.
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