Is South Korea's media under pressure? Press freedom ranking: South Korea ranks 62nd, down sharply from last year

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international media organisation based in Paris, France, announced its 2024 Press Freedom Ranking on the 3rd of this month. South Korea ranked 62nd, down from 47th last time.
RSF pointed out that "South Korean media is under pressure from politicians, government officials, and large corporations."
The Press Freedom Ranking is an index that RSF has published annually since 2002. RSF covers 180 countries and regions around the world.
The survey asked people to rate the level of press freedom in each country on a five-point scale: "good," "good," "problematic," "bad," and "very bad." South Korea ranked 62nd, down 15 points from the previous ranking of "good."
RSF has downgraded its ranking to "problematic." RSF has described South Korea as a "frontrunner in communications technology" and a "liberal democratic nation that respects freedom of speech and pluralism."
However, he also said, "Due to tradition and corporate interests, there are many cases where media personnel are not able to properly fulfill their role as watchdogs."
"They often become victims of online flame wars, but there is little protection against this," he said.
In the ranking, South Korea ranked 20th in the ranking under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
In 2006, South Korea reached its highest ranking of 31st, but in 2009, under the Lee Myung-bak administration, it dropped to 69th. In 2016, under the Park Geun-hye administration, it dropped to its worst ranking of 70th.
During the Moon Jae-in administration from 2018 to 2022, South Korea fluctuated between 41st and 43rd place, then last year it was 47th, and this year, as mentioned above, it dropped significantly to 62nd place.
In this survey, Norway came in first, followed by Denmark in second. The lowest ranking was Eritrea in Africa. Other countries with strict censorship by authorities include the United States at 55th and Japan at 70th.
China, which has been in the spotlight for a long time, was ranked 172nd, North Korea was ranked 177th, and Russia, which continues to invade Ukraine, was ranked 162nd. Japan's ranking dropped from the previous ranking (68th), and it is now the lowest among the G7 countries.
SF criticized the situation in Japan, saying, "The weight of tradition, economic interests, political pressure, and gender inequality often prevent journalists from playing their role as anti-authority actors." It also called for the press club to be
He pointed out that this has led to self-censorship among journalists and discrimination against foreign journalists. He also criticized the global trend, saying that there is a lack of political ideology to protect journalists in the international community.
Regarding South Korea's 62nd place result this year, the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh said, "This index is an evaluation of the second year of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration in 2023," and added, "Last year,
"In 2018, there were a series of forced investigations, including searches of the homes of media organizations and journalists who had raised suspicions about President Yoon and government officials in South Korea," he said.
In addition, a reporter from the South Korean media company MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting) had his house searched, and in September the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office set up a special presidential defamation investigation team, leading to the investigation of the broadcasting and cable channel JTBC.
The Hankyoreh cited searches of the offices of the national newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun and the homes of its reporters as examples of the government's pressure on the media, including the use of investigative agencies.
"These figures are directly reflected in the index," he said. Recently, there have been cases of South Korean media protesting that their freedom of the press has been violated.
The government announced a policy to introduce a "24-hour advance permission system" for all embassies. This requires correspondents to apply for permission to cover an embassy at least 24 hours in advance, including the purpose of the interview and the number of people.
The embassy said it would review the application and then decide whether to allow entry to the embassy. Correspondents protested, issuing a statement that the move was an infringement of press freedom and a serious obstruction of the people's 'right to know.'"
Although the embassy ultimately reversed its policy on the 6th of this month, this incident can be seen as supporting RSF's assessment that the level of press freedom in South Korea is "problematic."