GNP PASSES MEDIA REFORM AMID OPPOSITION'S VIOLENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 001154

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV KS
SUBJECT: GNP PASSES MEDIA REFORM AMID OPPOSITION'S VIOLENT
PROTEST

Classified By: A/DCM Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On July 22, National Assembly Speaker Kim
Hyung-o used his authority to send the ruling Grand National
Party's (GNP) media reform bill directly to the plenary,
where the GNP, controlling 169 of the 294 seats, handily
passed the legislation. The bill was a revised version,
which incorporated former party chair Park Geun-hye's
suggestions after she threatened to vote against the bill
earlier this week. Without Park and her faction, the GNP
would have lacked the necessary support to push the bill
through the plenary. The main opposition Democratic Party
(DP),determined to block the legislation, threatened
yesterday to resign en masse if the GNP passed the bills.
END SUMMARY.


2. (C) In the March session, GNP and DP lawmakers agreed to
postpone voting on media reform until the June session, which
ends on July 25. Despite extensive negotiations the two
parties were unable to compromise on the legislation.
President Lee Myung-bak had sought to reform the broadcast
media industry since he took office in February 2008, citing
the need to spur competition between media outlets and
bolster sectors he said had fallen behind global standards.
The media reform bill would enable cross-ownership of
broadcast and print media. The DP claims that if the
conservative print media is allowed to control the
progressive broadcasting companies, DP candidates will be
severely disadvantaged in future elections.


3. (C) Despite agreeing to vote on the legislation in this
session, DP contacts have repeatedly told us that they were
absolutely committed to blocking this bill. After extensive
negotiations earlier this week broke down, DP leader Chung
Sye-kyun on July 21 began a hunger strike and demanded to
negotiate directly with President Lee, a request that the

Blue House rebuffed. The same day, DP lawmakers threatened
to resign en masse if the governing party unilaterally pushed
the legislation through. The DP, however, was divided on the
efficacy of such a move. The resignations would have to be
approved by Speaker Kim Hyung-o, who would likely find it too
politically difficult to do so. Additionally, some lawmakers
wanted to keep their positions.


4. (C) On July 22, the GNP and minority conservative party
Liberty Forward Party (LFP) submitted a revised bill that
took into account LFP suggestions as well as those of former
GNP chair Park Geun-hye. Park, who commands a significant
faction with the GNP, surprised everyone when she took the
unprecedented move on July 20 of publicly disagreeing with
party leadership. Park said that she would vote against the
media reform bill unless the opposition's viewpoint was taken
into consideration. The revised bill set the share limits of
chaebol and newspapers in terrestrial broadcasting companies
at 10 percent, 30 percent in comprehensive channels, and 30
percent in news channels. The original bill called for 20,
30, and 49 percent limits, respectively. The revision also
allowed only those newspaper companies with subscription
rates of less than 25 percent to enter broadcasting. The DP
has said that a compromise was possible only if the bill
excluded the three largest (conservative) dailies and the
chaebol.


5. (C) On July 22, Kim Hyung-o invoked his often threatened
but never used authority to unilaterally send legislation
directly to the plenary for a vote. Early in the morning,
GNP lawmakers barricaded the Speaker's chair to prevent the
DP from occupying it and preventing the convening of a
session. Meanwhile DP lawmakers blocked the entrance to the
plenary room. Nevertheless, Kim's designated representative
called the meeting to order shortly after a sufficient number
of GNP members fought their way into the chamber to pass the
media reform bill.

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Comment
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6. (C) In the zero-sum game that is South Korean politics,
the GNP and President Lee Myung-bak won this round, but at
quite a cost. The public will frown on the ruling party's
unilateral move, bolstering leftist allegations that the
government is becoming more authoritarian under President
Lee's leadership. The DP will now also become even more
intransigent and less manageable in the National Assembly.
Still, there's plenty of public sympathy for the GNP, because
the DP has shown little willingness to cooperate and
continues to be obstructionist on all fronts in the National

Assembly. Also, in the likely event that DP legislators do
not carry out their threat and resign, they will be pilloried
by the conservatives as paper tigers, further helping the GNP
and President Lee. All this for a bill whose substance is
now largely forgotten, overshadowed by the fisticuffs and
insults that have virtually become standard legislative
procedure for the Korean National Assembly.
STEPHENS