Freedom of the press in South Korea

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A group of South Korean journalists aboard the USS George Washington after its arrival in Busan, Republic of Korea US Navy 100721-N-2757S-031 Capt. David A. Lausman, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), welcomes a group of journalists to George Washington after arriving in Busan, Republic of Korea.jpg
A group of South Korean journalists aboard the USS George Washington after its arrival in Busan, Republic of Korea

South Korea is considered to have freedom of the press, but it is subject to several pressures. It has improved since South Korea transitioned to democracy in the late 20th century, but declined slightly in the 2010s. Freedom House Freedom of the Press has classified South Korean press as free from 2002 to 2010, and as partly free since 2011.

Contents

In the Index of Reporters Without Borders, the government of President Park Geun-hye fell to 70th in 2016, but it rose 20 places in the government of Moon Jae-in. For this reason, Freedom House published the Freedom of the Press Index in Korea for the first time among Asian countries. [1]

History

The Western concept of freedom of the press was introduced to Korea following World War II by the United States Army Military Government in Korea, though some communist press outlets were censored. [2] The Syngman Rhee administration that followed afforded considerable press freedom, but this was limited in its later tenure by the National Security Act. [2] The Rhee administration closed one newspaper critical of it, the Kyunghyang Shinmun . [2] [3] [4] After Rhee was replaced in 1960 by the short-lived Chang Myon administration, the South Korean press was freed from most restrictions, but Chang was soon replaced in a military coup led by General Park Chung Hee in 1961. [2] Park was highly critical of the press' ability to criticize the government, and Youm and Salwen (1990) note that he "invoked a series of emergency decrees to muzzle the press". [2]

Following Park's assassination, as happened before, the Korean press regained some freedoms during the early stages of the new administration, until another military dictator, Chun Doo Hwan, reimposed military control, with what Youm and Salwen described as "an unprecedented 'purification campaign' against the press". [2] Media were regulated through the Basic Press Act of 1980. [5] That law was replaced in 1989 by the more liberal Act on Registration of Periodicals and the Broadcast Act by the Roh Tae-Woo administration, which is widely credited with transitioning South Korea to a democratic society respecting freedom of press, with Korean media becoming much freer from state control. [2] [6] [7] A landmark case occurred in 1988 when a military court ruled against military officers accused of assaulting a newspaper editor who published a negative story about the Korean military. [2]

Present situation and international rankings

Freedom House Freedom of the Press report for 2015 described the freedom of the press in South Korea as "threatened". It attributed the main problems to the administration of President Park Geun-hye "increased reliance" on the National Security Law which had "a chilling effect on working journalists". [8] It scored South Korea for 2015 and 2016 as 33 out of 100 (0 being best), placing it in the 'Partly Free' category. [8] [9] Freedom House has downgraded South Korea ranking from free to partly free in 2010 [10] (the 2010 ranking listed South Korea as free, [11] while 2011, as partly free [12] ). The 2011 report noted:

South Korea declined from Free to Partly Free to reflect an increase in official censorship, particularly of online content, as well as the government's attempt to influence media outlets' news and information content

The report also criticized the Lee Myung-bak administration for interfering with the press. [12]

Jaggard and You (2015) identified five factors contributing to deterioration of South Korea's Freedom House rating in 2010s: "abuse of criminal defamation, the rules governing election campaigns, national security limitations on free speech, restrictions related to the internet and partisan use of state power to control the media". [10]

Freedom of the Press Index (Freedom House) for South Korea, 2002–2016 [9]

YearRanking
200230
200329
200429
200529
200630
200730
200830
200930
201030
201132
201232
201331
201432
201533
201633

Likewise, the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders has noted decline of freedom of the press in Korea over the past several years. For 2016, South Korea has slipped to position 70 out of 181 countries, with the rating declining since 2010, when it had the position 42 out of 172. [13] The PFI entry on South Korea for 2016 stated:

Relations have been very tense between the media and the authorities under President Park Geun-hye. The government has displayed a growing inability to tolerate criticism and its meddling in the already polarized media threatens their independence. A defamation law providing for sentences of up to seven years in prison is the main reason for self-censorship in the media. The public debate about relations with North Korea, one of the main national issues, is hampered by a national security law under which any article or broadcast "favourable" to North Korea is punishable by imprisonment. This is one of the main grounds for online censorship. [13]

Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders) for South Korea, 2002–2016 [13]

YearRanking
200239 / 134
200349 / 158
200448 / 157
200534 / 160
200631 / 160
200739 / 163
200847 / 167
200969 / 169
201042 / 172
2011N/A
201250 / 177
201350 / 177
201457 / 179
201560 / 179
201670 / 181
201763 / 181
201843 / 181
201941 / 181
202042 / 181
202142 / 181
202243 / 181

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "한국, 세계언론지수 43위…미국·일본보다 높아" [Korea ranked 43rd in the World Press Index... higher than the US and Japan.]. Newsis (in Korean). 25 April 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Youm, Kyu Ho; Salwen, Michael B. (1990-03-01). "A Free Press in South Korea: Temporary Phenomenon or Permanent Fixture?". Asian Survey. 30 (3): 312–325. doi:10.2307/2644568. ISSN   0004-4687. JSTOR   2644568.
  3. ↑ "Who is the Kyunghyang Shinmun (Kyunghyang Daily News)" Archived 2015-12-22(Date mismatch) at the Wayback Machine Kyunghyang Shinmun website (English). Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  4. ↑ "Opposition Paper Closed in Korea; News Falsification Charged—Shutdown Protested by U. S. Embassy", The New York Times , 1959-05-02, retrieved 2010-06-25[ permanent dead link ] (fee required for full article).
  5. ↑ Lars Willnat; Annette Aw (23 March 2009). Political Communication in Asia. Routledge. p. 177. ISBN   978-1-135-89511-2.
  6. ↑ Chunhyo Kim (26 February 2016). Samsung, Media Empire and Family: A Power Web. Routledge. p. 17. ISBN   978-1-317-36293-7.
  7. ↑ Giovanna Maria Dora Dore (3 July 2015). Asia Struggles with Democracy: Evidence from Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. Routledge. p. 23. ISBN   978-1-317-56399-0.
  8. 1 2 "South Korea | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2015". freedomhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  9. 1 2 "South Korea | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2016". freedomhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  10. 1 2 Haggard, Stephan; You, Jong-Sung (2015-01-02). "Freedom of Expression in South Korea". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 45 (1): 167–179. doi:10.1080/00472336.2014.947310. ISSN   0047-2336. S2CID   154296705.
  11. ↑ "South Korea | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2010". freedomhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2017-03-25. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  12. 1 2 "South Korea | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2011". freedomhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  13. 1 2 3 "South Korea : Irascible presidency | Reporters without borders". RSF. Retrieved 2017-01-01.

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