South Korea’s leader has said that new livestreamed briefings in which he has dressed down officials might be “more entertaining than Netflix” as he seeks to boost transparency in contrast to his more autocratic predecessor.
Regular presidential policy briefings were long held behind closed doors, but Seoul has begun streaming them online as part of a push for more “direct democracy”.
The move is a stark departure from the previous conservative government under disgraced former president Yoon Suk Yeol, who introduced daily doorstep media briefings but scrapped them after just six months when they became too combative.
Yoon was ousted in April and is now in prison following a brief but disastrous imposition of martial law.
Lee, who was elected in June, quipped during a session this week that some viewers may find the livestreamed briefings “more entertaining than Netflix”.
Some of the exchanges caused public amusement when they showed Lee scolding officials over their answers.
In one, Lee told a cabinet meeting: “If you don’t know something, say you don’t know”.
“Trying to get out of a difficult situation by submitting false or distorted reports is the real problem,” he said.
Lee said on Wednesday that South Koreans were “the most democratically minded people in the entire world”.
“That’s why we should disclose as much information as possible,” he said.
However, the new arrangements have drawn some backlash, with one conservative newspaper describing the public tongue-lashing as akin to workplace “gapjil” — a Korean term for abusive or authoritarian behaviour by those in positions of power.
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