[VIEW 2035] Doorstep dismissals and thin-skinned politicians

Sung Ji-won

Sung Ji-won
The author is a political news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo

I’ve seen a number of politicians lose their temper when they get asked a question. They sometimes yell and thrust their fingers at me. This is what I have to bear as a cub reporter whose job is to ask sensitive questions in a limited amount of time.

A People Power Party lawmaker who once waved his hand and said “no, no, no” after being asked a delicate question has become a meme among novice reporters. He rebukes journalists, sarcastically saying “Didn’t you get any basic education?” or “That’s the very question I expected you to ask.” Senior reporters said he was worse in the past.

“You bastard,” a politician in the Democratic Party once said to a cub reporter who asked an unpleasant question. This happened when the reporter asked him at a funeral whether the party would respond to allegations a fellow lawmaker had died due to suspicions of a sex scandal. Apparently, he got angry after being asked questions and pushed the microphones away, saying “Stop it. Stop it.”

There are some politicians who ask “What is your name?” or raise their voice while waving a piece of rolled paper at journalists who ask them sensitive questions. In many cases, new reporters get flustered. Although we prepare less sensitive ones for the first question, we sometimes end up asking a couple of sharp ones. We try to steel our heart when they glower at us, thinking “This is for our readers.”

Recently, President Yoon Suk-yeol got angry after a reporter asked about his failure in personnel appointments during an interview on the doorstep of his office. We’ve seen him lose his temper since he was a candidate. Back then, when asked about his wife's career, he said “You need to wake up. Do not be biased,” waving his finger at the reporter.

Lawmakers of the ruling party says that they hope the president does less interviews to prevent gaffes. I doubt this is the best solution. The PPP lawmaker who refused to answer a question became an icon of miscommunication and the Democrat Party, led by the politician who called a reporter “a bastard,” was criticized because they didn’t listen to the people.

It doesn’t stop there. A politician who had been the leader of the conservative party announced that he would no longer answer questions at briefings after he made several mistakes. He led a few extreme rallies and lost the support of the people. In the end, he was terribly defeated in the general elections. When the president is asked a pointed question, will he lose his temper or stop giving answers? Or will he humbly accept that it is the very question the people want to ask? I wonder what the next interview will look like.

BY SUNG JI-WON [sung.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]