A People Power Party lawmaker accused President Lee Jae Myung's office on Sunday of unfairly pressuring US news outlet Bloomberg over its recent reports about Seoul's controversial "citizen dividend" proposal.
Five-term Rep. Na Kyung-won of Korea's main opposition party claimed in a Facebook post that the liberal administration was taking its anger out on Bloomberg by reportedly demanding an apology, arguing that the administration itself was responsible for the market confusion.
"It was Cheong Wa Dae that fanned the flames from the beginning," Na noted, referring to presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom's proposal Tuesday to distribute excess tax revenue in light of deepening economic polarization amid a tech windfall.
"Its true intentions of treating the achievements of artificial intelligence innovation as a means for its populist scheme cannot be obscured by a difference in translation," Na added.
Bloomberg's report, released Tuesday, said Kim's dividend proposal underscored "growing pressure on authorities to redistribute gains from the boom" experienced by South Korean semiconductor giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Kim's announcement was followed by heightened volatility in the stock market.
Gallup Korea reported a 3 percentage-point drop in Lee's popularity, to 61 percent.
Na called the presidential office's letter of formal complaint to Bloomberg — which claimed the outlet's report inaccurately framed Kim's proposal — "an arrogant letter," adding that it mirrored the moves against local news outlets to "control the media if it does not suit (the current administration's) tastes."
People Power Party Chair Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok also said on Facebook on Saturday that it was Cheong Wa Dae that must apologize, not Bloomberg.
However, Rep. Lee Ju-hee of the Democratic Party said in a statement Saturday that Bloomberg had made an "obvious error" in its reporting.
"Correcting factual errors is a duty of the government. Freedom of the press does not extend to the right to cause confusion in the market," Lee noted.
"Requesting corrections based on accurate grounds regarding parts of Bloomberg's report is a common-sense measure to safeguard the credibility of national administration and resolve uncertainty in our economy."
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