The ongoing scandal surrounding the leak of a Blue House internal report on a former aide to President Park Geun-hye is revealing one of the dark aspects of this society ― its love for rumors.
The love for rumors and gossip is so pervasive that even a police officer 
assigned to the presidential secretariat wrote a report based on what had been circulating in a secretive collection of information, most of which is unconfirmed, and rumors called “jjirashi.”
The author, Park Kwan-cheon, said he wrote the report ― which alleged that former aide Chung Yoon-hoi was interfering in government affairs in collaboration with current Blue House officials ― based on what he heard from a former senior tax official. The former tax official in turn said that some of the information he gave Park was based on what he read in a jjirashi paper.
It is ironic that it was rumors in another piece of jjirashi ― which accused Chung of being behind the circulation of talk of the impending replacement of Park’s chief of staff ― that prompted the police officer to write the report in question.
So, true or not, jjirashi has taken center stage in the scandal, whose political impact is so huge as to pull down President Park’s approval ratings.
Jjirashi, a word originating from “chirashi” in Japanese, refers to stock market information leaflets, a collection of mostly unverified information, rumors and gossip about almost every sector of Korean society from politics and business to show business and sports.
Its original meaning in Japanese is scattered leaflets, but it somehow became the name of the assortment of rumors that were circulated in papers and fax sheets in the 1980s, then emails and now through social media. To borrow expressions common in jjirashi, “it is said” that subscribing to a “high-quality” one costs as much as 20 million won a year.
Originally intended to target players in the stock market, authors collect information from a variety of sources ― aides, lawmakers, brokers and lobbyists, corporate officials who work for government affairs and public relations, police, government intelligence agents and journalists.
These groups of people sometimes switch their roles ― as authors, providers of information, circulators and consumers.
The fact that a Hanwha Group staffer obtained one of the leaked Blue House documents from a police officer whose job is gathering information attests to this intricately intertwined relationships among jjirashi players.
Jjirashi contain mostly rumors packaged as confidential insider information, but it also includes some facts, like press releases and briefings distributed before mainstream media outlets report them. This contributes to building up the myth that jjirashi contain genuine, reliable information.
More often than not, mainstream news outlets, always hungry for exclusives, jump the gun to make headlines out of the jjirashi tales.
It is true that sometimes what was mentioned in jjirashi turned out to be true, like the remarks the late President Roh Moo-hyun made on the validity of the northern maritime border during his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2007. Rep. Kim Moo-sung, now leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, who broke the news, said that he got the information about Roh’s remarks from a jjirashi paper.
But much of what jjirashi contain is ungrounded rumors, speculations and gossip. Some are manufactured out of nasty intentions and in pursuit of the interests of individuals or organizations.
Jjirashi even ruin the lives of politicians and celebrities. In one tragic case, star actress Choi Jin-sil committed suicide in 2008 over malicious rumors about her relations with a loan shark, which were started by jjirashi and circulated and augmented through the Internet and social media.
What is mentioned in jjirashi often results in lawsuits and investigation by law-enforcement authorities. The production of jjirashi itself faces crackdowns by authorities from time to time.
But it continues to thrive as demonstrated by the currently unfolding Blue House scandal. This is not the first time that chirashi rumors have put President Park in hot water.
It was based on rumors in a jjirashi paper that a Japanese newspaper correspondent wrote an article alleging that Park was meeting Chung on the day when the Sewol ferry sank last April.
Park said recently that “it is shameful” that the entire nation is being swayed by ungrounded rumors spread by a jjirashi paper. But in the eyes of the people, what’s really shameful is that her own aides at the Blue House played with the rumors, instead of verifying their authenticity.
What pains me is that the jjirashi scandals involving the Blue House could further embolden runners and users of the rumor mill, thereby worsening the already excessive fondness of unproductive rumors, gossip and sensationalism in this society.
* * *
While doing research on the meaning of jjirashi, I came to learn that it also refers to “chirashi sushi,” a bowl of steamed rice topped by pieces of raw fish. I tried it with my colleagues at an izakaya restaurant in our neighborhood. It was quite good, and I wondered if President Park or the numerous jjirashi players knew about the meal.
By Chon Shi-yong
Chon Shi-yong is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Herald. He can be reached at sychon@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed.
