[Donga Plaza] Is this column also a wild rumor?

I believed the expression "clampdowns on wild rumors" would not come up, at least, under the rule of the present government, for the ruling party of today used to be the greatest victim of repression by the foregone dictatorial regimes on the pretext of wild rumors all through the era of military rule.

Records of National Assembly sessions say that the opposition party of the time cried out against the then-government like this: "Do you have a conscientious eye to tell what a groundless rumor is from what the truth is? Rumor mongering is a natural product of a failed government and unsettled world, and as such it is bound to snowball as the powers that be step up a crackdown on it."

"Following in one's footsteps while criticizing them," so goes a proverb. Last week the incumbent "government of the people" proclaimed that it was initiating surprising crackdowns on wild rumors in the same manner as the military regimes did. It came about at the same time when some leaflets decrying the negligence of the government in taking care of the troubled economy as a result of its preoccupation with North Korean affairs were scattered in Seoul, and as a rumor was rife in the stock market here about a certain conglomerate teetering on the brink of financial insolvency.

It smacked of strange and ominous vigilance of the government against critique of policies. It in turn generated a plausible rumor that the clampdown was meant more to prevent criticism against leading political and governmental figures.

As was wildly guessed, the prediction came true. The first piece of game police landed three days ago was a case of defamation of the person of President Kim Dae-Jung. The libelous article was written by a Pusan man in his 30s and contributed to a local newspaper home page, and its content was so crude and nasty that it hardly deserved our comment, much less endorsement.

Web sites strewn with a slew of more ugly, sickening and ruthless writings are the order of the day. Then, why make such ado about an article critical of the president, alleging it to be false rumor mongering now? Verbal violence perpetrated online is a critical social problem, but the police should have known better than making an issue out of the badmouthing of President Kim by way of forestalling serious cases of rumor mongering that are likely to pop up anytime soon.

The same could be said of rumors on the bourse. False rumors discrediting businesses should not be condoned. As yet, rumors are considered an important part of information on the market. As they say: "Buy according to rumors and sell according to official announcements." The crux of the matter is their trustworthiness, and it is up to the investors whether they allow themselves to be influenced or not. If a company is victimized by malicious rumor mongering, it can cope legally with that.

In 1996, crackdowns on the circulation of irresponsible information from private sources were undertaken extensively in the same manner as this time, mobilizing even the secret state intelligence service, but a consequent fall in stock prices put the government in a delicate position. The targeted underground intelligence mongers were far from eradicated, but rather they continued to thrive ever since as they do today. Nothing can stop the flow of information because it moves in accordance with the market principle of demand and supply, so rumor mongering persists as long as there is someone who needs it. It is questionable how much effect such clampdowns will achieve.

When authoritarianism is rampant and inferior members of society have to keep quiet and lie low, rumors are likely to reproduce themselves like as many germs. The rampancy of rumor mongering in a sick society could be seen during the dark years of our history when false hearsay and "so they say" broadcasts raised their heads in full force. Now that the legitimacy of the government is solid, and the political consciousness of the people is much higher than those days; the government authorities are supposed to know well what gives rise to such widespread rumor mongering as would require law-enforcement authorities to crack down on it.

A series of unfavorable speculations about the notables in the ruling circles, "golden parachute" style appointment of managers of public corporations and favoritism that was shown to some police and prosecution leaders hailing from a certain region in their new assignments, Seoul's apparent subservient attitude toward North Korea in promoting rapprochement, restructuring of public corporations with under-the-table deals with labor unions, a crisis-prone economic overhaul based on sloppy restructuring -- these numerous factors contributing to negative public opinion about the present government provide the fertile ground for wild rumors. No amount of official crackdowns can stop rumor mongering as long as these factors are here to stay.

Any solution? The answer is simple. The government must repent and reform itself to refrain from creating these sources of groundless rumors. In the unfortunate absence of the courage or resolve to do that, the next best thing would be for the government to remain open and broadminded to some name-calling and take a self-confident stance toward such malicious rumor mongering. A government that can be square and dignified in reacting to criticism and generous toward an opposing view would be better than a government preoccupied with an attempt at uprooting rumor mongering without getting rid of its own poor administration causing the malady.

Lee Kyu-Min, editorial writer