(MENAFN- Asia Times)
As President Yoon Suk Yeol awaits a Constitutional Court ruling following his parliamentary impeachment and criminal investigations into his insurrection charges, a troubling trend is surfacing.
In recent weeks, the South Korean public has been flooded with unverified, half-baked stories originating mainly from opposition parties. The media's failure to conduct rudimentary fact-checking has only amplified the rumors, misinformation and speculation.
Speaking at a National Assembly hearing on December 13, Kim Ou-joon, a prominent left-wing commentator, testified that he had received intelligence on an“assassination squad” that was allegedly mobilized during Yoon's martial law decree imposed then revoked six hours later earlier that month.
This tip, which Kim himself acknowledged was not fully verified, alleged that Yoon's government had planned to assassinate several individuals, including former ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon, and then frame North Korea for the crime.
Kim went on to make other uncorroborated claims, including the potential use of biochemical weapons and killing US soldiers to elicit an American airstrike against North Korea during the short-lived decree. Kim's source for the incendiary claims?“A friendly nation with an embassy in South Korea.”
This vague sourcing fueled hot speculation, leading many to believe that the tip originated from American intelligence. Days later, however, US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller dismissed the theory.
Ironically, in South Korea, it was the opposition Democratic Party lawmaker who openly refuted Kim's testimony as“considerably fictional”– although the committee that heard Kim's testimony later published an interim report to“not rule out entirely” the claim.
A similar incident occurred on December 11 when Kim Joon-hyung of another opposition party testified in parliament that US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, unable to reach South Korean diplomats following the declaration of martial law, reported back to Washington, allegedly saying ,“I cannot deal with Yoon government people.” In a rare move, the US Embassy in Seoul swiftly denied the claim.
Media coverage of these inflammatory and unproven accusations have added fuel to the fire. Mainstream outlets on both sides of the political spectrum neglected to cross-check the stories.
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