The Presidential Secretariat's National Affairs Planning Senior Department was excluded from boarding a private plane to Southeast Asia, despite it being the first time in constitutional history that certain reporters were allowed to board the presidential plane. The decision to exclude MBC was due to repeated distorted and biased reports on diplomacy. The lawmaker compared it to press guidelines used during the Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship and suggested it could lead to a new form of press suppression. The exclusion from boarding the private plane was seen as a hindrance to coverage of the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit in Cambodia and the G20 summit in Bali. The President's Office claimed that the exclusion was due to the president spending taxpayers' money on overseas trips for national interests. However, the lawmaker argued that the exclusion from boarding a private plane was an exclusion from reporting and questioned the connection between the exclusion and national interests.
1. The Presidential Secretariat's National Affairs Planning Senior Department was excluded from boarding the President's private plane, a move seen as unfair.
2. This decision came just before President Yoon Seok-yeol's trip to Southeast Asia.
3. For the first time in constitutional history, certain reporters were allowed to board the presidential plane for a foreign language tour.
4. The President's Office stated that boarding the President's private plane had provided convenience for reporting on diplomatic and security issues.
5. Due to MBC's recent repeated distorted and biased reports on diplomacy, the decision was made not to provide convenience for reporting.
6. The lawmaker compared this to press guidelines used to control the media during the Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship.
7. The exclusion of MBC from boarding the private plane led them to travel to Cambodia via commercial plane.
8. President Yoon Seok-yeol will move to Bali, Indonesia to attend the G20 summit after his schedule in Cambodia.
9. There is no direct flight from Phnom Penh Airport in Cambodia to Bali, Indonesia, so MBC had to fly to Indonesia via Malaysia.
10. The lawmaker argued that making it difficult for MBC to travel by excluding them from boarding the private plane is virtually the same as hindering reporting.
11. It was corrected that it was not the first time in constitutional history that presidential plane boarding was excluded.
12. The President's Office stated that media companies pay for boarding a private plane with them in good faith for the convenience of reporting.
13. President Seok-yeol Yoon stated that the exclusion from boarding was because the president spends taxpayers' money on overseas trips because important national interests are at stake.
14. The lawmaker questioned what the exclusion from boarding for certain media outlets has to do with the national interests that the President's Office and the President speak of.
15. The lawmaker argued that the media's hiding and protecting the president's mistakes and policy failures in diplomacy without criticizing them would be a return to the national interest.
16. The lawmaker stated that the Constitution stipulates freedom of the press as a basic ideology.
17. The lawmaker believed that the President's Office should admit its mistake and apologize regarding the exclusion from boarding MBC's private plane.
18. The lawmaker stated that the freedom of speech guaranteed under the Constitution is 100% guaranteed.
19. The lawmaker argued that it is not their place to apologize or apologize for this action in particular.