Is Yoon silencing South Korean media under the ‘thinly veiled’ guise of fighting ‘fake news’?
- Media workers say press freedom is under attack as they accuse Yoon’s administration of ‘reshaping the media’ in its favour and threatening voices of dissent
- President Yoon has lashed out at his opponents and critics in recent months, grouping them as ‘communists, opportunists’ who could harm democracy with ‘fake news’
The protest by the National Union of Media Workers (NUMW) represents the escalating concerns over the current conservative administration’s alleged attacks on independent journalism, including the privatisation of media outlets to align with government interests and aggressive threats against voices critical of the authorities, often under the banner of combating “fake news”.
“These moves constitute a thinly veiled warning: ‘if you get under my skin, you will be in trouble’,” said Kim Seo-joong, a professor of media studies at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul. “Its chilling effect discourages journalists from covering stories deemed critical by those in power.”
Both conservative and centre-left governments in South Korea, when in power, have faced accusations of manipulating state-financed broadcasting companies into becoming platforms for news biased in their favour.
In 2018, while the liberal Democratic Party of Korea was in office, it attempted to introduce “punitive” fines against news outlets that spread “fake news”, citing “irrecoverable damage” to reputations and images of individuals and entities.
But this move was met with staunch opposition from media workers and opposition conservatives, who both decried it as an attempt to stifle dissent.
At that time, conservatives who were in the opposition joined forces with media workers in opposing the move, said Yoon Chang-hyeon, head of the NUMW.
“Immediately after they took power [in May 2022], however, they turned on a dime, adopting much more harsh methods to reshape the media in their favour,” Yoon Chang-hyeon told This Week in Asia during an interview held inside the tent from which NUMW is calling for the removal of Lee as head of the KCC, the state broadcasting regulator.