As
UN
Denies Ban
Handlers
Pushed
Journalist, He
Confirms, UN
Says, Next
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 14 --
After twice
dodging Inner
City Press' question
about
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
"handlers"
pushing a
report on
October 8,
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
on October 14
outright
denied that
the pushing
took place.
The
Daily News had
reported that
"when The
News' David Yi
asked Ban why
it was
important for
the acts to be
there, he
reports the UN
chief turned
away and three
of his
handlers
'pushed' him
aside. 'How
dare you ask
a question
like that to
the UN
secretary
general?' said
one."
Nesirky
told Inner
City Press,
"that didn’t
happen."
But
when Inner
City Press
contacted
David Yi, he
replied
publicly
"@innercitypress
What
was published
is an accurate
portrayal of
what occurred.
I stand
by my story."
So
whom is one to
believe: an
organization
which twice
refused to
answer a
question
about the
reported
pushing, or
the journalist
who made and
stands by
the
allegation?
Ban
in South Korea
in August 2011
with pop
stars, Ban-handling
not shown
From
the UN's
October
14 transcript:
Inner
City
Press: I’ve
asked this a
couple of
times, but
it’s been
almost a week,
so I wanted to
know, last
Saturday there
was an event
in the South
Korean Mission
to the UN on
45th Street,
and at least
according to
the New York
Daily News, a
reporter tried
to ask Mr. Ban
a question
about Korean
pop stars that
were in
attendance and
the
reporter says,
pushed back by
security.
Doesn’t say if
it’s UN
security --
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Actually, it
doesn’t.
Actually…
Inner
City
Press: What
took place?
Spokesperson:
Matthew…Let’s
get the facts
straight. The
story does not
mention
the word
security at
all. The word
it uses is
handlers.
Inner
City
Press: Who
were the
handlers?
That’s…
Spokesperson:
So, it’s
nothing to do
security, and
it’s nothing
to do, it’s
nothing to do
with our
security
colleagues,
okay. So,
let’s get
that
absolutely
straight.
Inner
City
Press:Who
pushed who?
Spokesperson:
So that’s the
first point,
to get the
terminology
straight,
okay. The
second point
is that there
was no
pushing, okay.
What I can
tell you is
that the
Secretary-General,
at the
reception,
spoke at
some length,
for about five
minutes, in
Korean,
because this
was a
preponderantly
Korean event
about the
importance of
Korean popular
culture, not
just within
Korea, but the
way that it
has had an
important
impact in
other parts of
Asia and
beyond. So, he
spoke at
some length
about that,
and mixed with
the various
stars that
were
there from the
Korean pop
scene. And
then he left
the reception
to
head to
another event,
and did not
take questions
after that.
He’d
spoken inside
at the
reception.
Inner
City
Press: What
about this --
you’ve seen
the report, I…
I am
[inaudible].
Spokesperson:
Yes, and I
have just
answered the
question,
Matthew.
Inner
City
Press: Right.
Spokesperson:
What’s the
next question?
Inner
City
Press:Yeah,
because it
doesn’t just
say that he
didn’t take
the question,
it says that
the handlers
pushed the
reporter back.
Spokesperson:
And I just
told you that
that didn’t
happen.
Inner
City
Press: Okay.
So did you
guys write to
the Daily News
and say
it’s false?
Spokesperson:
No, Matthew,
I’m just
telling you,
okay?
Inner
City
Press:Okay.
Spokesperson:
Yeah, this is
a story that
is a very
small story,
and I think
that
we just need
to move on to
the next
question.
But
then
when Inner
City Press
contacted
David Yi, he
replied
publicly
"@innercitypress
What
was published
is an accurate
portrayal of
what occurred.
I stand
by my story."
So
again: whom is
one to
believe: an
organization
which twice
refused to
answer a
question about
the reported
pushing, or
the journalist
who made and
stands by the
allegation?
Watch this
site.
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