Yangpyeong Shinmungo Accused of Collusion with Specific Politicians, Bias in Favor of Shincheonji… Local Democratic Party Criticized for Lukewarm Response to Attacks on Assemblywoman Yeo Hyeon-jeong

It has been confirmed that the mediation request filed against Yangpyeong Shinmungo with the Press Arbitration Commission failed, and legal proceedings are currently underway. In connection with this, the police contacted us, and we have completed filing an additional complaint, with the investigation currently in progress.

Newstamsa stated that it intends to uncover the truth of this matter through legal action against Yangpyeong Shinmungo.

Yangpyeong Shinmungo has consistently published numerous Shincheonji-related advertisements and pro-Shincheonji articles, raising suspicions about its connection to Shincheonji. After the arrest of Chairman Lee Man-hee, it actively promoted the narrative of human rights violations and religious persecution against Shincheonji.

In particular, leading up to the last local elections, it published reports that intensively attacked Assemblywoman Yeo Hyeon-jeong, fueling suspicions of collusion with specific political forces.

Yangpyeong Shinmungo has written very favorable articles about specific politicians, especially interim leader Choi Seong-eun and ruling party candidates. This aligns with circumstantial evidence of a close relationship with Governor Jeon Jin-seon, and there were also numerous advertising expenditures during the time of former Governor Jeong Dong-gyun.

However, it has been pointed out that the newspaper showed a biased reporting style by exclusively publishing defamatory articles targeting Assemblywoman Yeo Hyeon-jeong.

Many local media outlets rely on local government advertising and publicity funds, creating a structure where it is difficult to write principled articles and report fairly. This reliance easily turns media into 'government-controlled' publications.

In the case of Yangpyeong Shinmungo, the severity is even greater as it goes beyond simple reliance on publicity funds to blatantly publish articles advocating for Shincheonji.

The publisher of Yangpyeong Shinmungo also serves as the chairman of the CLB Welfare Foundation, and suspicions have been raised that Shincheonji volunteers are mobilized for this welfare foundation. This suggests that the welfare foundation is actively being used by Shincheonji to launder its image.

Regardless of whether the publisher is a Shincheonji follower, criticism is being raised that his actions significantly contribute to improving Shincheonji's public image.

Assemblywoman Yeo Hyeon-jeong submitted a proposal to the local party to issue a statement in response to defamatory articles against her, but it was ultimately not adopted after review by the secretariat. The secretariat, through a meeting, acknowledged that there were problems with the articles themselves but did not decide to issue a statement.

This is seen as ignoring an active response from the local party level, and criticism has been raised that it failed to protect Assemblywoman Yeo Hyeon-jeong.

The local committee, fearing that an official statement would lead to continuous defamatory articles for three months, decided to respond by having the interim leader post an article on the party bulletin board instead of issuing an official statement.

This is interpreted as an attempt to explain the situation to party members and convey the party's position, while avoiding further controversy that could arise from an official statement.

The local party's interim leader stated that the committee must always remain neutral during election periods. The argument is that if the committee issues a statement on behalf of a specific candidate regarding defamatory articles, it would have to respond to every other candidate's issue, thereby compromising neutrality and falling into a specific frame.

This stance appears to stem from the judgment that there are practical limitations for the committee to directly intervene in individual matters.

The local party's interim leader confirmed the receipt of a complaint regarding Yangpyeong Shinmungo during a meeting with the head of the Election Commission's guidance department. However, the Election Commission stated that the content of the complaint did not constitute a violation of election law.

This means that the Election Commission determined there was no legal issue with the matter, which likely influenced the party's response direction.

Questions have been raised about the possibility that the Election Commission determined that Yangpyeong Shinmungo's articles did not violate election law without a substantial investigation. The reporter expressed a critical view of the Election Commission reaching a conclusion without conducting an investigation.

Furthermore, criticism continued that the party, despite its responsibility to protect its affiliated candidates and members, responded passively to this situation.

Suspicions have been raised that the local party's interim leader was a classmate of former Minjoo Research Institute director Yang Jeong-cheol, increasing questions about his appointment background. This raises concerns about an individual with insufficient experience in the local Democratic Party maintaining a long-term interim leadership system.

This has led to criticisms of Choi Jae-gwan, the committee chairman, and the local party's incompetence, resulting in questions about their organizational control and crisis response capabilities.

It was pointed out that under the current Jeong Cheong-rae leadership, party organizational restructuring has not been properly carried out, suggesting that incompetent individuals similar to Choi Seong-hoon may still remain in various places nationwide. This leads to criticism that the party is preoccupied with internal issues, such as Jeong Cheong-rae's re-election, and that internal reorganization of nationwide organizations is insufficient.

Consequently, concerns are raised that such organizational management failures could become factors for certain defeat in upcoming elections.