CULTURE: Freedom of the press in Korea.

What is the place of press freedom in South Korea?

South Korea ranked 42nd in the world press freedom index released on Tuesday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), while neighboring North Korea was in the bottom of the rankings.

Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based organization, has published its annual global press freedom ranking which assesses the situations of journalists in 180 countries and territories.

South Korea has lost a place compared to last year. This loss of a place is explained by the progression of other countries, like Italy. The South Coast is among the Asian countries, the one that ranks in the best place immediately followed By Taiwan, then Japan in 66th place …

Norway topped the list for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Finland, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. With strong growth from the United States to 45th place.

The organization predicted that the next decade would be decisive for the future of journalism, with the new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic highlighting and amplifying several crises that threaten press freedom.

“Public health crises provide authoritarian governments with an opportunity to implement the famous ‘shock doctrine’ to take advantage of the fact that policies are on hold, the public is in shock and protests are out of the question, in order to ‘impose measures that would be impossible in normal times’, analyzed Christophe Deloire, the director general of RSF in a report.

Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Yonhap / RSF