'Safety minister asked to cut off power to some media'

'Safety minister asked to cut off power to some media'. January. 15, 2025 08:17. .
It was confirmed that then Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min called the National Fire Agency Just after the martial law was declared on December 3 and instructed them to “cooperate if the police request to cut off power to media outlets.” Heo Seok-gon, head of the National Fire Agency, attended the National Assembly on Monday and was asked by an opposition party member whether such an order had been given. He said he received a phone call but said he did not follow the instructions. The media outlets targeted by former Minister Lee for power cuts included the Kyunghyang Shinmun, Hankyoreh, and MBC.

The testimony that President Yoon Suk Yeol planned to control media outlets contradicts the claim that President Yoon’s declaration of martial law was a warning measure. President Yoon claims that he had declared martial law to “highlight the major opposition party’s destructive behavior.” He claimed that if he had attended to bring the National Assembly to a stop, he would have cut off the power supply to the National Assembly building first. Such measures could have been taken against the media. Cutting off power to media outlets is something that even dictatorships have not attempted to do.

The idea of trying to control the media by cutting off water and electricity is anachronistic and shocking, when we live in a digital age where news is published in real-time by mobile. What is furthermore shocking is the fact that he targeted specific media companies. The list of media companies is as random as the list of targeted arrests that even included the ruling party leader during martial law. “These are individuals of whom the president usually speaks negatively,” explained Yeo In-hyung, the counterintelligence commander, but the list of targeted arrests and media outlets validate that the declaration of martial law was an act reflecting the president’s personal revenge.

President Yoon was not known to have a democratic view of the press. Broadcast reports criticizing the president or raising suspicions about the First Lady were met with heavy disciplinary action known as “silent deliberation.” A presidential staff member had criticized a newspaper reporter's question at the president's press conference as "disrespectful." President Yoon is known to have said, “Don’t read the newspaper, watch YouTube.” The country would not have been in this state if he had paid attention to criticism of the media instead of listening to extreme-right YouTube channels.