In a structure that matures democracy, journalists carry the same weight as politicians. 

"If one journalist knows, the whole world knows."

This means that the reporting and courage of a single journalist can become the starting point for revealing the truth to society as a whole.

In the information age, possessing information is power. Furthermore, the right to freely access that information is a fundamental right of the sovereign.

In a structure that matures democracy, journalists carry the same weight as politicians. Politicians implement public will, conveyed bottom-up through representative democracy, into policy, while journalists, as vanguards of information, disseminate truth top-down.

Especially in providing citizens with the ability to judge and the freedom to choose, the responsibility of journalists is greater than that of politicians. 

Legacy Media Remains Silent on Election Irregularities

The journalist's calling is first and foremost to verify facts, to monitor power, and to warn of danger.

The moment this role is abandoned, the journalist is already dead.

Recently, the international community, centered around the United States, has been conducting investigations into election irregularities and reporting on them. Revelations about electronic vote counting systems and suspicions of digital manipulation, along with in-depth reporting on these matters, are reaching us across the Pacific.

At the dawn of the new year, the arrest of Maduro in Venezuela, which shocked the world, was essentially an inquiry into responsibility for election irregularities. However, South Korea's legacy media remains silent on this issue. 

Except for a few conservative media outlets and YouTubers, citizens are receiving no explanation from the journalists who should be the 'vanguards of information.'

News is abundant, but truth is lost. Today's media landscape is filled with articles where the essence is edited and distorted. The standard of reporting is focused on 'corporate' interests rather than 'social' responsibility.

This is a pledge by journalists to become salaried employees pursuing corporate profits, rather than guardians of society.

The role of a journalist is like an early warning system that alerts to earthquakes and tsunamis. Disasters occur suddenly, but if there is a warning, the damage can be significantly reduced.

Even massive earthquakes and tsunamis always have subtle vibrations and precursors.

It is time to reflect on whether journalists in South Korea are currently sounding the early warning as members of the press, or choosing silence. 

Journalists Must Report the Truth, Regardless of Where Power Lies 

The international community is currently scrutinizing South Korea, suspecting it as a hub for the export of international election rigging systems, and does not take its eyes off us. A-WEB, headquartered in Incheon Songdo, and Miru Systems, based in Seongnam, are mentioned as centers of international election irregularities.

The fact that President Yoon Suk-yeol publicly raised suspicions of election irregularities by the National Election Commission through martial law served as proof that the South Korean government is not colluding with global election rigging forces.

However, the sustained silence of the media is diminishing its significance. Recently, US intelligence agencies have raised suspicions of collusion between domestic forces and international election rigging forces, backed by various evidence and data.

If journalists fail to investigate these suspicions and accept an illogical reality as the new normal, South Korea as a whole will bear the indelible stigma of being the 'center of the international election rigging cartel.' 

What is needed now is not more silence, but awakening and courage. Suspicions may be uncomfortable, but conviction without verification ultimately leads to ruin.

Even if it is uncomfortable and we don't bow to pressure, we must report the truth, regardless of where power lies. If there are suspicions, we must pursue and verify them to the end. That is the journalist's mission.

If one journalist bravely reveals the truth, the whole world will know. And the people will remember that courageous journalist.

◆ Writer Min Byung-gon 

Current) Political Documentary Writer 

Current) Spokesperson for the Incheon Metropolitan Chapter of the People Power Party