The South Korean government has decided to no longer reference data from the Korea Audit Bureau of Certification, the country's only agency that tallies sales of local newspaper copies.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Thursday that it reached the decision after the agency ignored recommendations to improve its internal systems.

This comes as a whistleblower had accused the agency of overstating some of its figures last year.

As an alternative, the ministry plans to conduct a survey of 50-thousand members of the public on their subscriptions and media access preferences. The government had bought advertising worth 245.2 billion won from newspapers and other print media last year, in which it referenced data from the agency.

The government will also make use of other indicators that attest to the social responsibilities upheld by the media, such as the frequency of compulsory arbitration by the Press Arbitration Commission.