The Politics of Reform, 2004

Conditions for Disclosure

Rather than speaking about the world,

I tried to create the conditions under which the world could reveal itself.

headline lettering on the wall from the 26th São Paulo Biennale, 2004

This work was produced against the backdrop of the political and social conditions that unfolded between the final years of President Kim Dae-jung’s administration, when political tensions intensified amid corruption scandals involving presidential relatives and key figures in power, and the suspension of President Roh Moo-hyun’s authority following the National Assembly’s impeachment vote.

At the time, South Korean society was undergoing rapid transformation through a deeply polarized struggle between what were commonly framed as “reform” and “anti-reform.” Rather than focusing on the political events themselves, I became interested in how those events were constructed, circulated, and transformed through the media.

For this project, I collected and analyzed approximately 6,000 articles published in The Chosun Ilbo and The Hankyoreh. Through this archive, I traced the ways political volatility was produced, amplified, and mediated through mass communication. In particular, I examined how two newspapers with opposing political positions reconstructed the same events into fundamentally different realities, and how media institutions increasingly functioned not merely as channels of information but as powerful political actors in their own right.

The work was presented at the 26th São Paulo Biennale in 2004. Headlines from the two newspapers were enlarged and installed across the exhibition walls in direct confrontation with one another, resembling public political posters. A separate monitor allowed visitors to search and read the collected articles themselves.

However, the work remained largely unknown in South Korea, as major media outlets and art magazines did not report on the exhibition. As a result, the project received little public visibility within the country.

Thirteen years later, I produced A Democracy (2017), a work that traced the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Although the two projects address political events from different periods, both belong to a continuous inquiry into how media, politics, and the public interact to construct social reality in contemporary Korea.

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headline lettering on the wall from the 26th São Paulo Biennale, 2004

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Presidential

Primary Polls

Chosun Ilbo / Korea Gallup Presidential Poll

Lee In-je received 43.4% support among Democratic Party voters, while Roh Moo-hyun received 11.5%.

Prospects for retaining power:

Democratic Party delegates: 52%
Grand National Party delegates: 92% (Chosun Ilbo, January 1, 2002)

Allegations of Political Intervention

Pro-Kim Dae-jung youth organization Yeoncheong allegedly intervened in the Democratic Party primary. Noh In-hwan, a member of the organization, claimed interference had occurred. Another member reportedly confirmed the allegation. Representatives Moon Hee-sang, Bae Ki-sun, and Presidential spokesperson Park Sun-sook denied the claims. (Chosun Ilbo, April 9, 2002)

Lee In-je's camp alleged interference by Yeoncheong and released what it claimed was a handwritten statement by Noh In-hwan. Representative Moon Hee-sang categorically denied making the remarks attributed to him. (Hankyoreh, April 9, 2002)

The End of the Primary

Lee In-je abruptly withdrew from the presidential primary, effectively securing Roh Moo-hyun's nomination. (Chosun Ilbo, April 18, 2002)

Lee In-je withdraws from the presidential race. (Hankyoreh, April 18, 2002)

The New Government

“After the election, the victors seem to be entering every corner of society like an occupying force. A mood has emerged suggesting that now is ‘our time’ and that the former establishment should finally suffer.”

(Chosun Ilbo Column, January 11, 2003)

Major business groups, including the Federation of Korean Industries, have openly expressed anxiety, while sections of the media have amplified that anxiety. This so-called instability reflects a collective hysteria among established elites and vested interests. What is needed is more populism. (Hankyoreh, January 20, 2003)

The Presidential Office

Among the 31 presidential secretaries, there was not a single career bureaucrat. Ten came directly from party politics, while many others were former student activists from the 1970s and 1980s. Ten had previously been imprisoned. (Chosun Ilbo, February 18, 2003)

The new presidential office represents a transfer of power toward previously marginalized groups. Many of the new secretaries belong to the so-called “386 Generation” and participated in democratization movements during the 1970s and 1980s. (Hankyoreh, February 18, 2003)

Arts Funding

Was the 2004 Arts Promotion Fund allocation politically biased, or did it represent meaningful change?

(Chosun Ilbo, January 29, 2004)

Questions were raised regarding the distribution of the Arts Promotion Fund.

Artist and MIA Director Sangghil Oh argued through a formal complaint that support had been concentrated among specific organizations and individuals connected to them.

Art critic Park Chan-kyong described the complaint as “a Chosun Ilbo-style ideological attack,” while jury member Park Shin-ui responded publicly that no ideological bias had existed and that all decisions had been made fairly through collective deliberation.

Sangghil Oh replied that his criticism addressed structural problems within the funding system itself and that reducing the issue to ideological labeling distorted the substance of the discussion. (Hankyoreh, February 9, 2004)

The SK Investigation

On February 17, prosecutors raided SK Group headquarters and affiliated companies. Business leaders questioned whether this represented the first step in the Roh administration's effort to discipline the chaebol system or merely an independent prosecutorial decision.

Samsung and LG executives reportedly convened emergency meetings late into the night. (Chosun Ilbo, February 18, 2003)

Prosecutors emphasized that the investigation was not intended as a campaign against major conglomerates and denied rumors of a broader crackdown on Korea's largest corporate groups.

(Hankyoreh, February 18, 2003)

Prosecutorial Reform

Prosecutor General Kim Kak-young argued that the new administration intended to control prosecutorial authority through personnel appointments and that the crisis stemmed from the absence of a fair and transparent appointment system. (Chosun Ilbo, March 10, 2003)

President Roh stated that he would exercise the legal authority granted to him under the Constitution.

More than sixty prosecutors subsequently issued a statement indicating that they would accept the President's personnel decisions.

Kim Kak-young submitted his resignation. (Hankyoreh, March 10, 2003)

Public Opinion

Chosun Ilbo / Korea Gallup Survey

73% of respondents said President Roh should focus on the economy.

Priority issues:

Economic growth: 45%
Reducing inequality and stabilizing household finances: 28.6%
Political stability: 11.7%
Anti-corruption efforts: 3.2%

81% expressed dissatisfaction with the overall direction of government. (Chosun Ilbo, January 1, 2004)

Hankyoreh Survey

62.5% preferred legislators with progressive political views.

The most desirable professional background for legislators was:

Civic activists: 16.5%

The most valued quality was:

Knowledge and competence in economic affairs: 50.5% (Hankyoreh, January 1, 2004)

One Year of Participatory Government

Chosun Ilbo / Korea Gallup Survey

49.8% reported that their household economic conditions had worsened over the previous year.

73.1% believed social inequality had increased.

64.5% believed society had become more divided. (Chosun Ilbo, February 23, 2004)

Hankyoreh Survey

35.1% evaluated President Roh's administration positively.

The most successful achievement was seen as:

The political independence of institutions such as the Prosecutors' Office and the National Intelligence Service.

The greatest weakness was:

Frequent verbal controversies and damage to presidential authority. (Hankyoreh, February 23, 2004)

Kim Jong-pil

Kim Jong-pil, leader of the United Liberal Democrats, described the first year of the Participatory Government as “a lost year” and accused President Roh of pushing the nation into chaos through amateurism and populism. (Chosun Ilbo, February 21, 2004)

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office requested an 18-month prison sentence and a fine of 1.54 billion won for former ULD leader Kim Jong-pil on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. (Hankyoreh, June 17, 2004)

Media War

The MBC Journalists' Association announced its support for an all-out confrontation with Chosun Ilbo, declaring that Chosun was attempting to portray all MBC programming as distorted and politically biased.

(Hankyoreh, April 14, 2004)

“Television coverage of the impeachment process was politically biased.”

According to the report, current affairs anchors expressed opposition to impeachment twenty-seven times and support only once. (Chosun Ilbo, June 11, 2004)