Ministry Protests WSJ Journalist’s Behavior
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday that it will stop providing press releases to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and send a protest letter to the newspaper's headquarters in New York to protest the behavior of its Seoul correspondent.
But Evan Ramstad of the WSJ rebuffed the ministry's decision, arguing he was just doing his job as a reporter and that the finance ministry was overreacting to tough questions directed at Strategy and Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun.
"We will officially protest Ramstad's use of vulgar English words by sending a protest letter to the head of the Wall Street Journal in the U.S., not because of his questions during a Q&A session at the press conference. The point is that he verbally insulted ministry spokesman Park Cheol-kyu, using the 'F' word after the session," said Kim Young-min, the spokesman for foreign media at the finance ministry. Park and Ramstad reportedly had an argument over whether the latter's questions were appropriate or not.
Kim said Ramstad sent a written apology to the ministry for his swearing late Monday night. But he said the letter lacked sincerity in it, stressing it was not the first time for Ramstad to swear at ministry officials.
"Last August, the reporter said the 'F' word to me during a phone conversation. As a ministry spokesman, I sent a protest letter to the WSJ headquarters. Ramstad then wrote me an apology, pledging not to use vulgar words again. But he broke his promise Monday, swearing at the senior ministry official. Under the circumstances, we have no other choice but to question the sincerity of his apology," Kim said.
However, Ramstad was furious over the ministry's actions, telling The Korea Times that he did nothing wrong.
"Obviously, I am mad at what finance ministry PR officials are doing. They are talking to everyone else about the situation. But they are not talking to me about it. There is nothing I can do about what they are doing within their power. But ministry officials are selling their stories and agendas."
He said ministry officials are angry at him for asking Minister Yoon hard questions. "But my job as a reporter is to ask difficult questions. They are talking about one WSJ reporter asking tough questions, not about the substance of my questions. The WSJ headquarters know what is going on here through The Korea Times and other domestic media outlets. I am just one of many reporters at the journal," he said, hinting that the incident will not attract much attention there.
The showdown between Korean bureaucrats and a foreign media outlet came a day after Finance Minister Yoon was asked "humiliating" questions about late-night entertainment culture in Korea during a press conference with foreign correspondents.
Ramstad asked Yoon whether it was difficult for Korean women to be hired as executives of major business groups because male executives enjoy room salons and would not be able to visit them if their colleagues were women. He also asked whether ministry officials were treated to lavish entertainment at room salons by businessmen.
CBS Radio reporter Don Kirk then said executives and employees of Korea's large businesses group were the main customers of room salons.
In response, senior ministry officials, who declined to be named, said the reporters asked "silly" questions on purpose to humiliate him in public.
재정부 욕설 기자에 공보서비스 중단
기획재정부는 윤증현 장관의 외신 기자간담회에서 부적절한 질문에다 욕설까지 퍼부은 월스트리트저널 (WSJ) 기자에 대해 공보서비스를 중단하기로 했다.
그러나 에반 람스타드 기자는 이 같은 결정을 받아들일 수 없다면서 재정부가 과잉반응을 보이고 있다고 반발했다.
김영민 재정부 외신대변인은 ``람스타드 기자가 기자회견 후 공보실 직원들에게 육두문자를 사용한 행위에 대해 본사에 정식으로 항의할 방침’’이라고 말했다.
람스타드 기자는 당시 외신 간담회에서 윤증현 장관에게 한국 여성의 직장 참여가 저조한 것이 남성의 룸살롱 문화 때문이며 재정부 직원들이 관계기관으로부터 룸살롱 접대를 받는다는 전제를 깔고 견해를 물었다. 람스타드 기자는 지난해 8월에도 욕설을 했다가 재정부 외신대변인에 사과 편지를 썼던 경력이 있는 기자로 재정부는 이번 간담회에서 또다시 정부 대변인에게 입에 담지 못할 욕설을 퍼부어 국격을 심각히 훼손함에 따라 관련 조치가 필요하다는 결론을 내린 것으로 전해졌다.