Opposition Decries Tax Inquiry into Journalists

Culture Minister Kim Han-gill, fresh from his five-day trip to North Korea, faced legislative grilling on Friday on the ongoing government tax audit of major media companies.

Opposition representatives took issue with Thursday's reports that the National Tax Service was tracing the financial accounts of senior reporters.

The report "strongly raises questions of the government pressuring the press through tracing a money trail," Rep. Choung Byoung-gug of the opposition Grand National Party said.

Rep. Nam Kyung-pil of the same party pointed out to the minister that the central tax authority is "not able to explain why they took the resident registration numbers of senior reporters."

Mr. Kim responded that "I will answer the questions raised after finding out more in detail about the probe into the senior reporters."

The central tax authority, as part of the three-month-long tax audit launched Feb. 8, has been collecting resident registration numbers of managerial executives of major press companies. But it was reported that the data collection has broadened to include senior newsroom reporters.

Rep. Park Kwan-yong of the opposition said on Thursday "we can not shake off the notion that the government is providing certain press companies with documents concerning the tax audit."

He did not name any names, but the Hankyoreh, a daily that has been carrying a special feature section titled "press reform," threatened a libel suit. None of its articles had been based on government documents, it said.

by Kim Jung-wook