People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo raises 'imperial golf lesson' allegations against Kim Hye-kyung
Cheong Wa Dae says media, not just the politician who raised the allegations, will be held accountable
Cheong Wa Dae on Monday warned media outlets that had reported on allegations of an "imperial golf lesson" involving first lady Kim Hye-kyung, raised by People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo, saying it would "strictly hold accountable those who report unverified claims as fact or spread false information."
The presidential office's communications secretariat issued a press notice saying that "not only the politician who raised the allegations, but also the media that spread them without verification, will face corresponding responsibility."
Cheong Wa Dae said "verbatim reporting" — publishing a politician's one-sided claims without basic fact-checking — "amounts to an abdication of the media's duty to verify." It added that such reporting "is not a shield against liability for publishing false information."
However, Cheong Wa Dae did not separately address the specific facts behind the allegations Ju raised, including who bore the cost of the golf outing.
Earlier that day, Ju posted on his Facebook page, along with photos of a golf round in progress, that "on Tuesday, Kim accompanied a well-known professional golfer and played imperial golf."
Ju said Kim "received an imperial lesson from a professional golfer at Taereung Country Club, enjoyed a three-person round, and even opened the president's exclusive imperial clubhouse."
He then questioned who had paid for the outing, saying a field lesson with a world-class professional golfer costs tens of millions of won. "Why was that strange golf task force created — was this the reason?" he asked. He also claimed that one man joined the round and that "the Lee Jae-myung family's private use of a military facility is a crime."
sang@heraldcorp.com
