IPI, Korea’s Guarantee of Freedom of the Press is Far from Reality

In a recently released report, the International Press Institute (IPI), citing the infringement of freedom of the press in Korea as an example, remarked, “Although Korean journalists and the press are not in a situation of government intimidation, they are pressured so much under the forcible demand of them to adopt a specified viewpoint and opinion regarding subjects under conflicts.”

IPI pointed out, “In Korea, extreme pressure forces journalists to conform to the policies of government, violating the rights of the journalists such as ‘free flow of information’ and ‘freedom from intimidation’.”

As for the examples of the infringement of journalistic freedom in Korea, IPI has selected the “Meetings of people who love Roh Moo-hyun” as a masqueraded political activity and a non-governmental movement, the prosecution’s seizure and search of Seoul Broadcasting System, and the remarks of President Roh and Culture Minister, Lee Chang-dong, who declared the “War against false report.”

IPI has listed Korea on its watch list of suppressed journalism countries for three consecutive years since September 2001.

On the other hand, IPI, regarding North Korea, remarked, “There is no such thing as freedom of the press in that country. The government fixes every television to show only the government channels and can sentence capital punishment to those watching the channels of foreign countries.”

Sun-Woo Kim sublime@donga.com