Colonial period (1910–1945) When the
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was signed in 1910, the
Governor-General of Korea assumed direct control of the press along with other
public institutions. Following the
March 1st Movement in 1919, the colonial government loosened their overt control over
cultural activities and permitted several Korean
newspapers to function while maintaining some behind-the-scenes direction over politically sensitive topics. During the 1920s, Korean vernacular newspapers, such as
Donga Ilbo, and
intellectual journals such as
Kaebyok (Creation), conducted running
skirmishes with Japanese censors. Colonial authorities prohibited sales of individual issues on hundreds of occasions between 1926 and 1932.
World War II mobilisation in the ensuing years ended any resemblance of autonomy for the Korean press; all Korean-language publications were outlawed in 1941.
After World War II (1945–1990) Following the period of 1945 to 1948, which saw a burgeoning of newspapers and
periodicals of every description as well as occasional censorship of the media, almost all subsequent South Korean governments have at times attempted to control the media. A number of newsreels were produced or approved by the
United States Army Military Government in Korea. The first newsreel to be produced in the South was the 1945–1947
Haebang News. Between 1953 and 1994, the government-produced newsreel
Korean News was created and shown in movie theaters across the country.
Syngman Rhee's government continued the military government's
Ordinance Number Eighty-Eight, which outlawed
leftist newspapers. Rhee also closed moderate newspapers and arrested
reporters and
publishers on numerous occasions between 1948 and 1960. On taking power in 1961,
Park Chung-hee's
Supreme Council for National Reconstruction closed all but fifteen of
Seoul's 64 daily newspapers and refused to register a comparable percentage of the country's
news services,
weeklies, and monthly
publications while using its radio and
news agencies to promote its official line. The Park government also used the
Press Ethics Commission Law of 1964 and, after 1972, emergency
decrees that penalized criticism of the government to keep the media in line. In 1974, the government ordered several journalists fired and used the
KCIA to force
Dong-a Ilbo to stop its reporting on popular opposition to the Park government by intimidating the paper's
advertisers. During the Park and the subsequent
Chun Doo-hwan administrations, the government exercised considerable control and surveillance over the media through the comprehensive
National Security Act. In late 1980, the Chun government established more thorough control of the news media than had existed in South Korea since the
Korean War. Independent news agencies were absorbed into a single state-run agency, numerous provincial newspapers were closed, central newspapers were forbidden to station correspondents in provincial cities, the Christian Broadcasting System network was forbidden to provide news coverage, and two independent
broadcasting companies were absorbed into the state-run
Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). In addition, the Defense Security Command, then commanded by Roh Tae Woo, and the Ministry of Culture and Information ordered hundreds of South Korean journalists fired and banned from newspaper writing or editing. The
Basic Press Act of December 1980 was the legal capstone of Chun's system of media control and provided for censorship and control of newspapers, periodicals, and broadcast media. It also set the professional qualifications for journalists. Media censorship was coordinated with intelligence officials, representatives of various government agencies, and the presidential staff by the Office of Public Information Policy within the Ministry of Culture and Information using daily "reporting guidelines" sent to newspaper editors. The guidelines dealt exhaustively with questions of emphasis, topics to be covered or avoided, the use of government press releases, and even the size of headlines. Enforcement methods ranged from telephone calls to editors to more serious forms of intimidation, including interrogations and beatings by police. One former Ministry of Culture and Information official told a National Assembly hearing in 1988 that compliance during his tenure from 1980 to 1982 reached about 70 percent. By the mid-1980s, censorship of print and broadcast media had become one of the most widely and publicly criticized practices of the Chun government. Even the government-controlled Yonhap News Agency noted in 1989 that "TV companies, scarcely worse than other media, were the main target of bitter public criticism for their distorted reporting for the government in the early 1980s." Editorials called for the abolition of the Basic Press Act and related practices, a
bill was unsuccessfully introduced in the National Assembly to the same end, and a
public campaign to withhold compulsory viewers' fees in protest against censorship by the KBS network received widespread press attention. By the summer of 1986, even the ruling party was responding to public opinion. The political liberalization of the late 1980s brought a loosening of press restraints and a new generation of journalists more willing to investigate sensitive subjects, such as the May 1980
Gwangju massacre. Roh's eight-point declaration of June 29, 1987, provided for "a
free press, including allowing newspapers to base
correspondents in provincial cities and withdrawing security officials from newspaper offices." The South Korean media began a rapid expansion. Seoul papers expanded their coverage and resumed the practice of stationing correspondents in provincial cities. Although temporarily still under the management of a former
Blue House press spokesman, the
MBC television network, a commercial network that had been under the control of the state-managed KBS since 1980, resumed independent broadcasting. The number of radio broadcast stations grew from 74 in 1985 to 111 (including both
AM and
FM stations) by late 1988 and 125 by late 1989. The number of periodicals rose as the government removed restrictions on the
publishing industry. There also were qualitative changes in the South Korean media. The
Christian Broadcasting System, a radio network, again began to broadcast news as well as religious programming in 1987. In the same year, the government partially lifted a long-standing
ban on the works of North Korean artists and musicians, many of whom were of South Korean origin. A newspaper run by dissident journalists began publication in 1988. Several other new dailies also appeared in 1988. Many of the new weekly and monthly periodicals bypassed the higher profits of the traditional general circulation magazines to provide careful analyses of political, economic, and national security affairs to smaller, specialized audiences. Observers noted a dramatic increase in press coverage of previously taboo subjects such as political-military relations, factions within the military, the role of security agencies in politics, and the activities of dissident organizations. Opinion polls dealing with these and other sensitive issues also began to appear with increasing regularity. Journalists at several of the Seoul dailies organized trade unions in late 1987 and early 1988 and began to press for editorial autonomy and a more significant role in newspaper management. In 1989, South Korea's four largest dailies,
Hankook Ilbo,
Joongang Ilbo,
Chosun Ilbo, and
Donga Ilbo, had a combined circulation of more than 6.5 million. The anti-establishment
The Hankyoreh, had 450,000 readers – less than the major dailies or smaller papers like
Kyonghan Shinmun or
Seoul Shinmun, but larger than four more specialized economic dailies. All the major dailies were privately owned, except for the government-controlled
Hankook Ilbo. Several other daily publications had specialized readerships among
sport fans and
youth. Two
English-language newspapers, the government-subsidized
Korea Herald and the
Korea Times, which was affiliated with the independent Soul immune, were widely read by foreign
embassies and businesses. A Chinese-language daily served South Korea's small Chinese population. The
Yonhap News Agency provided domestic and foreign news to government agencies, newspapers, and broadcasters. Yonhap also provided information on South Korean developments in English by computerized transmission via the Asia-Pacific News Network. Additional links with world media were facilitated by four
satellite link stations. The International Broadcast Centre established in June 1988 served some 10,000 broadcasters for the
1988 Seoul Olympics. The government's KBS radio network broadcast overseas in twelve languages. Two private radio networks, the
Asia Broadcasting Company and
Far East Broadcasting Company, served a wide regional audience that included the
Soviet Far East,
China, and Japan. The South Korean government also supported Naewoe Press, which dealt solely with North Korean affairs. Originally a propaganda vehicle that followed the government line on unification policy issues, Naewoe Press became increasingly objective and moderate in tone in the mid-1980s in interpreting political, social, and economic developments in North Korea.
Vantage Point, an English-language publication of Naewoe Press, provided in-depth studies of North Korean social, economic, and political developments. began publication in May 1988. It was founded by dissident journalists who were purged by the government in the early 1970s or 1980; many of the paper's reporters and editorial staff left positions in mainstream newspapers to join the new venture. The structure and approach of the paper reflected the founders' view that in the past the South Korean news media had been too easily co-opted by the government. The paper had a human rights department as well as a mass media department to keep an eye on the government's press policy and to critique the ideological and political biases of other newspapers. The paper's nationalism and interest in national reunification were symbolically represented in the logo, which depicted Lake Cheonji at the peak of
Baekdu Mountain in North Korea; in the exclusive use of the Korean alphabet; and in the type font in which the paper's name was printed, which dated from a famous Korean publication of the eighteenth century before the country became divided. The paper was printed horizontally, rather than vertically like other Seoul dailies. In other innovations, The Hankyoreh relied on sales revenues, private contributions, and the sale of stock, rather than advertising from major corporations, in line with its claim to be "the first newspaper in the world truly independent of political power and large capital." The newspaper came under increasing government pressure in 1989. South Korea also had extensive and well-developed visual media. The first Korean film was produced in 1919, and cinemas subsequently were built in the larger cities. The result of the spread of television sets and radios was the dissemination of a homogenized popular culture and the impingement of urban values in rural communities.
Current status (1990–today) After decades of state control and heavy censorship, the South Korean press (in print, on television, and online) is experiencing a period of relative freedom. However, the repressive Basic Press Law was repealed in 1987, and since 1990 the television market has expanded significantly. Whereas in 1980 there were only 28 national newspapers, today there are 122. In 2002, satellite broadcasting brought multi-channel commercial television to homes across South Korea. According to most outside observers, political discourse is unrestricted in South Korea; however, persistent concerns are worth noting. The National Security Law allows the government to limit the expression of ideas deemed pro-North Korean or communist; broad interpretations of this statute place a chill on peaceful dissent. In addition, in 2003, President Roh Moo-Hyun brought a libel suit against four of the major national newspapers, and the government has stated that editorials are subject to legal action if they are found to contain falsehoods. Outside observers have criticised pressure tactics used by both the South Korean government and the business community to influence reporting. Major newspapers include
Chosun Ilbo,
Donga Ilbo,
Joongang Ilbo, and
Hankook Ilbo, all published in Seoul. The five nationwide television networks are
KBS-1 and
KBS-2 (public broadcast),
MBC (run as a public organization),
EBS (state-funded), and
SBS (a commercial broadcaster). Some 70 percent of South Korean households have broadband Internet access, and the online media marketplace is growing rapidly. Popular news Web sites (such as OhMyNews.com) register as many as 15 million visits per day. Today, much of the news in South Korea is delivered through electronic means and the country is at the leading edge of the digital revolution and a trailblazer for high-speed and wireless internet services. ==Books==