The Lee Jae-myung administration, which had been expected to pursue aggressive press reform, has yet to unveil a clear blueprint for media policy nearly a year after taking office.
President Lee Jae-myung has largely limited his actions to sharing articles on social network services (SNS) and requesting corrections or revisions. In short, he appears to be approaching the issue through "communication" and a "pragmatic" approach rather than the rigid rationale of "press reform."
Press Policy Different From the Past... 'Communication and Pragmatism'
The pattern is clearly different from press reform efforts of past administrations. Previous governments focused on dismantling the monopoly of certain newspaper powers and improving the structure of the press market, while also attempting to expand competition in the broadcasting market through the introduction of comprehensive programming channels. Some put weight on restoring the public nature and independence of public broadcasting, while others pushed broadcasting reform through measures such as the separate collection of license fees and the replacement of public broadcasting executives.
Each administration pursued press reform under its own justification, but the results were not significantly different. Media outlets that became the targets of reform pushed back strongly, and many policies returned to square one when administrations changed. Press reform repeatedly ended up as a power struggle between the government and the press rather than producing structural change.
Above all, the way news is consumed has fundamentally changed in recent years. Unlike the era when newspapers and broadcasters led public opinion, YouTube, portals, social network services (SNS), OTT platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) now stand at the center of information distribution. It has become an environment in which press reform targeting only specific media outlets or broadcasters is insufficient to change the entire information ecosystem.
It is an era in which countless YouTubers produce news, and articles from established media are reprocessed into short-form videos and consumed. Within this "media new normal," where production, distribution, and consumption of information occur in real time, the Lee Jae-myung administration is also seen as seeking a different approach to "press normalization" than in the past.
Lee Kyu-yeon: 'Media Development Committee to Launch... Discussing Journalism as a Growth Engine'
The starting point is the Media Development Committee. The plan is to design a new information ecosystem that goes beyond debates over the governance structure of public broadcasting or individual media outlets, encompassing platforms, OTT, AI, the content industry, and media literacy. It draws attention as an attempt to expand the target of press reform from media companies to the entire media environment.
Lee Kyu-yeon, senior presidential secretary for public relations, recently disclosed plans to launch the Media Development Committee in a joint interview with 20 media outlets. Pursued as a national policy task, the Media Development Committee will serve as a government-wide control tower that integrates and coordinates media policies scattered across the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The Media Development Committee aims to break down the silos in press policy divided among ministries while placing weight on national strategy. The intention is that, whereas press policy has so far been centered on regulation and management, it will be elevated to a national strategic domain that takes into account industrial competitiveness, democracy, and technological innovation together.
It also draws attention for its potential to institutionalize a forum for discussions that raise the quality of journalism. During the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the public-interest debate over public broadcasting often slid into extreme confrontation through controversies such as the separate collection of license fees, the replacement of public broadcasting executives, the financial crisis at TBS, and the conflict over YTN's privatization.
The Media Development Committee, however, can become a forum for discussing not just who becomes CEO, but what kind of journalism can earn public trust and how to restore public service and the public interest. Above all, it carries significance in that it can explore a new press reform model suited to the platform era.
Platform Era... A New Press Reform Model
A recently published book by Kim Sung-jae, former standing director of the Korea Press Foundation, reads like a reference guide for understanding this trend. The author defines false reports, distorted reporting, articles that simply transcribe prosecutors' briefings, advertorials, and sensational reporting that incites hatred as "bad news."
Kim, who not only worked as a reporter but also handled press policy directly while serving in the Roh Moo-hyun administration's presidential office, as deputy minister at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and as standing director of the Korea Press Foundation, has recently been offering policy proposals on press normalization and media reform through YouTube broadcasts based on these experiences.
He proposes news literacy — the ability to read and interpret critically — as a way to enhance the press's self-correcting capacity and the quality of journalism. The argument is that citizens' ability to choose good news and filter out bad news is the last bulwark protecting democracy.
'News Literacy'... Raising Citizens' Capabilities
What is interesting is that this awareness of the problem largely aligns with the view of the press that the presidential office has recently demonstrated. Whereas under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the presidential office and the press took on a pattern of conflict and collision — with critical media openly barred from access or excluded from presidential overseas trips — the current administration is focusing more on responding to false reports than on critical media. A representative example is President Lee's combined approach of public rebuttals and public assessments through SNS.
When the Kyunghyang Shinmun recently reported on a "private bad bank," President Lee directly shared the article on SNS, saying, "Thank you for the good article," and subsequently instructed that related measures be reviewed at a Cabinet meeting. The presidential office even delivered presidential plaques of appreciation to the reporters who produced the coverage.
At Seoul Economic Daily's 'Seoul Forum 2026': 'Setting State Direction Through Good Coverage'
Senior Secretary Lee Kyu-yeon, who delivered President Lee Jae-myung's congratulatory address by proxy at "Seoul Economic Daily's Seoul Forum 2026" held at the Shilla Hotel on the 27th, said, "President Lee Jae-myung has been saying particularly often these days that he is grateful to 'media that offer constructive criticism' and 'media that set the direction of state affairs through good coverage,' and he has told us not to spare praise for them."
Of course, cases of publicly demanding corrections or revisions for articles judged to be inaccurate or distorted are also increasing. Not only the presidential office, but also President Lee himself has been directly expressing positions through SNS to the effect that "this differs from the facts" or "we request accurate reporting." Rather than striking deals with the press behind the scenes or clashing publicly as in the past, the approach is to respond through methods such as verification.
Senior Secretary Lee also stated in a recent joint interview, "Responding officially is less of a headache for both sides and is better. Wouldn't it be good for the government to act fairly and openly, and for the press to act fairly and openly as well?" It is a clear signal that the past practice of granting favors out of sight to suppress critical reporting by powerful media is gone. In other words, the approach is one of public communication rather than press control, with press policy also placing weight on communication and pragmatism.
'The Government Acts Fairly and Openly, and the Press Acts Fairly and Openly'
Former director Kim Sung-jae also does not view press reform as a problem only for media companies. While creating good media is the role of institutions, choosing good news is the role of citizens. Kim said, "For people lost amid the flood of media and news, news literacy is not a choice but a necessity," adding, "I hope this book serves as a guidebook that helps citizens protect their healthy daily lives and democracy."
In other words, even if the Media Development Committee is launched, press reform cannot be completed by institutions alone. Citizens' news consumption habits, the press's accountability, platform algorithms, and the public nature of public broadcasting must all function together. News literacy, too, will inevitably become an important pillar in that process.
A "great transition" has begun — from an era of reforming the press to an era of designing the media ecosystem. Unlike past governments' press reform efforts, which focused on institutional restructuring targeting specific media such as newspapers and broadcasters, the Lee Jae-myung administration is attempting an approach tailored to a new media environment that encompasses citizens' news literacy, the platform environment, and even AI and algorithms. Attention is focused on whether ecosystem innovation that goes beyond press reform to cover the entire production, distribution, and consumption of information will translate into actual results.
