The People Power Party criticized the presidential office's decision to send an official letter of protest to Bloomberg over the U.S. news agency's interpretation of Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom's "national dividend" remarks, calling it "an arrogant view of the press that intimidates the media."
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk wrote on Facebook that "Lee Jae-myung seems quite aggrieved" and noted that the administration "even demanded an official apology from Bloomberg." He added, "This is not a matter to fight the press over out of grievance. The truly aggrieved are the investors and citizens who suffered damages." Jang continued his criticism, saying, "Kim Yong-beom used the expressions 'excess profits' and 'national dividend' multiple times. No matter how much he insists it was a misunderstanding, his true intent is exposed here and there."
Earlier, Bloomberg reported on Kim's social media post on the 12th, in which he raised concerns about the distribution of excess tax revenue, including corporate taxes increased by the AI boom, and presented his national dividend concept. Bloomberg interpreted the proposal as a redistribution plan utilizing excess profits from private companies.
Jang wrote, "South Korea has become a truly frightening country," adding, "The media rush to delete articles at a single word from Lee Jae-myung. Eerie rumors are even circulating about whether several general programming channels will shut down at year-end."
Park Chung-kwon, spokesperson of the central election strategy committee, commented, "The Lee Jae-myung government, which has been silencing domestic media, is now performing an 'arrogant sword dance' by demanding apologies from foreign media across borders." He criticized it as "the arrogance of power trying to intimidate the press by labeling legitimate concerns as malicious fabrication."
He further added, "After throwing out a careless message, blaming foreign media by saying it was 'excess tax revenue' rather than 'excess profits' is a despicable play on words." He noted, "Such brazen shifting of responsibility will only invite ridicule from the global capital markets."
Park Sung-hoon, also a spokesperson of the central election strategy committee, said in a separate commentary, "The Lee Jae-myung government's 'fake news sword dance' is now being directed at foreign media." He described it as "a diplomatic farce that has perfectly preserved the chronic 'blame-others DNA' and biased view of the press for the international community to see."
