President Lee wants to put gov't proceedings on live TV. But how effective will that be?
Published: 08 Jan. 2026, 07:00
Updated: 08 Jan. 2026, 09:37
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- LEE SOO-JUNG
- [email protected]
![Government officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management participate in a year-end briefing to President Lee Jae Myung, center, at Sejong Convention Center in Sejong on Dec. 17, 2025. [NEWS1, YUN YOUNG]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/61f4270a-b0b3-414f-854c-8d969f487d55.jpg)
Government officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management participate in a year-end briefing to President Lee Jae Myung, center, at Sejong Convention Center in Sejong on Dec. 17, 2025. [NEWS1, YUN YOUNG]
Perhaps starting as early as this month, a total of 47 ministries and national agencies will begin airing their briefings and policy dialogues under a presidential initiative to “disclose state affairs transparently” to the public.
“The live broadcast will help the government review and assess policies transparently and gather collective intelligence, which would deepen public trust in policies,” President Lee Jae Myung told ministers last month.
The governmental live-broadcast service followed the presidential office’s live broadcast of Cabinet meetings and annual presidential briefings last year — for the first time ever.
Lee Kyu-youn, senior secretary for public communications, said the government would livestream events of significant public interest held by ministries and the prime minister’s office during a briefing at Blue House in central Seoul on Dec. 31 last year.
“Transparency in state management will improve, and public trust toward policies will be bolstered through live broadcasts,” Lee Kyu-youn said, noting it is an effort by the Lee administration to become an “open and on-air government.”
While the measure appears to allow the public to monitor how policies are crafted and implemented in real-time, some experts questioned its sustainability and efficiency.
A more direct form of communication
![President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a year-end briefing with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission at Sejong Convention Center in Sejong on Dec. 16, 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/d9e4a9a0-ff4c-4d07-89d4-85ca9c85e16a.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a year-end briefing with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission at Sejong Convention Center in Sejong on Dec. 16, 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
A longtime proponent of real-time engagement, Lee livestreamed the moment he climbed over the National Assembly fence for a parliamentary vote to lift the martial law imposed by his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, in December 2024.
After assuming office, Lee called unfiltered real-time disclosure a “crucial element of democracy.”
“Governance should be disclosed transparently to enable public-oriented governance and [...] realize popular sovereignty,” the president said.
In July last year, Lee convened an on-air Cabinet meeting on the agenda of industrial accidents, marking the first time a Cabinet meeting was fully unveiled to the public. Customarily, the president’s introductory remarks were shared with the public, while the following proceedings were held behind closed doors.
Last month, annual briefings — either year-end or new-year — between the presidential office and ministries, which lasted 1,682 minutes in total, were broadcast live on the state-run channel KTV, except for discussions of sensitive national security issues.
![Incheon International Airport Corporation CEO Lee Hag-jae speaks during an annual briefing with President Lee Jae Myung at Sejong Convention Center in Sejong on Dec. 12, 2025. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/9e2f543d-4e72-40d2-955e-1089387abe7b.jpg)
Incheon International Airport Corporation CEO Lee Hag-jae speaks during an annual briefing with President Lee Jae Myung at Sejong Convention Center in Sejong on Dec. 12, 2025. [JOONGANG ILBO]
It also waged a war of nerves between the president and a few government officials. In one case, Incheon International Airport Corporation chief Lee Hag-jae, appointed by former President Yoon, accused the president of revealing a cash-smuggling method — hiding $100 bills between book pages — during a live briefing. President Lee countered that the briefing is not a place for political debate.
Despite such friction, President Lee said that the livestreams boosted public interest in state governance. On YouTube, the presidential office dubbed the broadcasts the so-called “Jaem-flix,” a portmanteau of the president’s name and Netflix.
Prof. Lee Ho-yong from Hanyang University’s policy department said livestreaming seems to be a beneficial means in enhancing transparency and encouraging public participation in politics. However, the professor said it is “questionable whether live-broadcasting can take place in the upcoming years in the same way.”
“In the early years of a presidential term, the measure might be appropriate to help people understand his state management and to showcase his performance,” Prof. Lee said. “But it seems sustaining the motivation next year and the following year will be challenging. There might be other factors which may be inappropriate for public disclosure.”
Evolution of presidential ministerial briefings
![Late President Park Chung Hee attends a Foreign Ministry's annual briefing on Jan. 31, 1974. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/8eb05474-7a59-46a4-b958-3c09ecc06cfd.jpg)
Late President Park Chung Hee attends a Foreign Ministry's annual briefing on Jan. 31, 1974. [JOONGANG ILBO]
Korea’s transition from authoritarian rule to a democratic society made the briefing more transparent and less hierarchical.
Before Korea’s democratization in 1987, presidents sat at different tables from ministers at closed-door meetings and maintained straight faces in photos. However, presidents after the democratization have tended to share tables with government officials, adding a collegial element.
![Late President Roh Moo-hyun attends an annual briefing prepared by the Ministry of Education, which was held at Blue House in central Seoul, on Nov. 3, 2006. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/db3f7d38-34c7-4484-930a-d2a1ee98e83e.jpg)
Late President Roh Moo-hyun attends an annual briefing prepared by the Ministry of Education, which was held at Blue House in central Seoul, on Nov. 3, 2006. [JOONGANG ILBO]
Roh said the previous practice made different ministries report on similar and overlapping agendas. He noted that the grouping was intended to facilitate joint discussion.
The next president, Lee Myung-bak, moved up the season of annual briefings, which usually took place in January and February. Helming state affairs amid the 2008 global financial crisis, Lee ordered the government to complete the briefings by December to ensure that new policies would be implemented on Jan. 2 the following year.
Another president, Moon Jae-in, held the briefings in a debate format as his political mentor Roh did. He also assigned 22 ministries and agencies to nine groups to “facilitate mutual understanding and coordination.”
![President Moon Jae-in, far right, attends an annual briefing prepared by the land minister at Blue House in central Seoul on Feb. 16, 2021. The briefing was convened virtually due to Covid-19 prevention measures. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/fd7a4646-1e15-41e0-b6ee-b00517a074ae.jpg)
President Moon Jae-in, far right, attends an annual briefing prepared by the land minister at Blue House in central Seoul on Feb. 16, 2021. The briefing was convened virtually due to Covid-19 prevention measures. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol conducted three rounds of ministerial briefings. His first — soon after his inauguration — was a one-on-one briefing with each minister. His last two rounds invited dozens of ordinary people to the briefing sites.
Double-edged sword
![President Lee Jae Myung presides over a Cabinet meeting at the then-presidential office in Yongsan District in central Seoul on July 29, 2025. The meeting was aired live. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/01/08/eb924dcc-0376-41d6-8a2b-b2fb582b6473.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung presides over a Cabinet meeting at the then-presidential office in Yongsan District in central Seoul on July 29, 2025. The meeting was aired live. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
President Lee said, “Koreans constantly watch and judge what public officials and politicians do.” He added that their undertakings should, if possible, be disclosed during his remarks on Dec. 17.
“There is a principle to conduct administrative procedures openly,” Lee said. “We should, of course, disclose them.”
However, not all ministerial events are likely to be covered live. The live broadcast will take place when each institution decides to livestream its policy-related events.
The state-run broadcaster KTV will provide on-site support for shooting, streaming and broadcasting. The events will be aired on KTV’s television channel and streamed on its YouTube channel.
A KTV official told the Korea JoongAng Daily that the institution is currently receiving inquiries from state agencies about live broadcasts, adding that broadcasts will be within KTV's means and at a manageable level.
The KTV official said that the broadcast guidelines will be shared with ministries’ spokespeople after conducting a survey of demand. He said broadcast services would likely begin next month, realistically speaking.
Nonetheless, the presidential office left room for stronger intervention. “We can advise [institutions] on which government meetings to livestream based on our assessment,” presidential communication secretary Lee Kyu-youn said.
However, Prof. Lee warned that real-time disclosure would impose “psychological pressure” on public officials and create a “time-consuming situation” for them.
“Given that public servants spend months preparing for a parliamentary audit, it is likely that they will spend considerable time on the briefing broadcasts,” Prof. Lee said. “However, there is growing concern that public officials might end up spending half a year just preparing to give a live briefing to the president."
BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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