hankyoreh

By Noh Hyun-woong and Ryu Yi-geun, staff reporters

Recent evidence surfaced suggesting unpalatable statistics were either suppressed or released belatedly due to pressure from the Blue House under the Lee Myung-bak government (2008-2013).

The tactics are tantamount to doctoring of data, noting that national statistics serve as a basis for policy decisions and demand strict political neutrality.

According to numerous sources with Statistics Korea, the agency did not release new Gini official data based on the findings of a household financial welfare survey due to pressure from the Blue House.

“During the last administration [under President Lee Myung-bak], there was so much pressure from the Blue House that we had a hard time even releasing statistics, most of which were troublesome from the administration’s standpoint,” explained a Statistics Korea official on condition of anonymity.

The Statistics Act stipulates that strict political neutrality must be observed to protect the credibility of data, with all findings announced without delay.

New Gini coefficient figures obtained by the Hankyoreh give some hint as to why the Blue House tried to block their release. The value of 0.357 reported by Statistics Korea last year was significantly different from the 0.307 given in an announcement based on a household trend survey. The figure 0.357 was based on a shrunken sample of 8,7000. The original figure 0.307 was based on a full sample of 20,000.

The Lee administration maintained that the coefficient, which measures equality of income distribution, was showing continued improvement, putting South Korea 18th among OECD member states. But the value of 0.357 in Statistics Korea’s new Gini coefficient puts the country at 29th out of 34 OECD countries for disposal income distribution - an eleven-place drop. At the time, the Lee government boasted of South Korea’s Gini coefficient’s continued improvement that put the country at the mid-level of OECD member states.

Statistics Korea explained that it planned to announce the figures “after sufficient examination of income data for the high and low income poles.” But its yearly reporting plan for 2012 showed that data from the financial portion of the household financial welfare survey, including distribution figures, were to be announced on November 9, 2012.

“As far as the decision whether to release the Gini coefficient and other distribution data is concerned, there was some pressure from the senior economic secretary’s office in the Blue House,” said another Statistics Korea official.

“As a result, sensitive numbers like the Gini coefficient were not given,” the source continued. “Instead, there were just ordinary survey findings announced right after the presidential election.”

The timing suggests the administration did not want figures showing worsening income inequality to be released before the election. At the time, major presidential candidates were battling to pin the blame on political opponents for growing income polarization under the Roh Moo-hyun and Lee administrations. Findings from the household financial welfare survey - minus the new Gini coefficient - were finally made public on December 21, two days after the December 19 election.

The Gini coefficient was not the only example of data being suppressed. A source with Statistics Korea said the senior economic secretary’s office was also behind the decision not to release data from the development of distribution indicators, one of the agency’s key projects last year.

“It was the same thing,” the official said. “It showed the distribution situation wasn’t good.”

The officials also said pressure from the Blue House led to a delay in the announcement of onion production figures last year.

Total production numbers for the spring harvest of barley, garlic, and onions have traditionally been released together every June and July since 1979. But last year, the onion harvest figures were given separately on August 22. The annual reporting plan originally had the date set for July 26, the same time as the barley and garlic harvest figures.

“When onion prices skyrocketed last year, the media really went after the government’s inflation policies,” said a Statistics Korea official. “So when the 2012 numbers showed onion production down about 20%, the Blue House asked us not to release them.”

The government had increased onion imports substantially to lower prices around June of last year, before the production data had been calculated. Farmers objected vehemently, staging large-scale rallies in early July. The evidence suggests the timing of the figures’ announcement may have been manipulated out of concern for criticisms of the government price management failure and the objections coming from farmers.

The officials at Statistics Korea also said Blue House pressure was behind the decision to wait until after the election to announce social indicator data that had originally been scheduled for release on November 8.

“Production, analysis, and announcement of statistics have to be independent from politics,” said a former Statistics Korea chief who spoke on condition of anonymity. “That’s the only way to ensure credibility. Arbitrarily changing the date of an announcement is no different from doctoring the data.”

Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Jong-hak echoed the criticism, “Statistics are the foundation of state policy and need to be the most objective and scientific of data,” he said. “If these data were influenced by administration pressure, then that is a serious issue that rocks the very foundations of government policy.”

The Hankyoreh left several phone and text messages with former Blue House policy office chief and senior economic secretary Kim Dae-ki to hear his explanation, but received no reply. Kim, a onetime Minister of Strategy and Finance, was the Lee administration’s first chief of the National Statistical Office (now known as Statistics Korea).

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]