Facts About Korean Media
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2008 The Korea Press Publisher Ko Hak-yong Editor in Chief Sun Sang-shin Published by Korea Press Foundation www.kpf.or.kr 12-15 fl., Korea Press Center, 33 Taepyeongno, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel 82-2-2001-7824 First Edition November 28, 2008 Copyright ⓒ 2008 by Korea Press Foundation designed by nanoom communication Co., Ltd. ISBN 978-89-5711-202-1 S T N 06 General Trends in the Korean Press in 2007. 7~2008. 6. 25 The Media Chronology in 2007. 7.~2008. 6. E T Directory 55 Newspapers 83 News Agencies N 84 Broadcasting Companies 104 Cable Televisions O 118 Internet Media 124 Media Organizations C 147 Korean Correspondents Overseas 160 Foreign Correspondents in Korea 171 University Communication Programs 183 Graduate School of Communication Programs 188 Research Institute for Journalism in University 192 Facts about Korean Media 234 Media Law Guide for Foreign Correspondents 240 Government Departments 242 Foreign Embassies 246 Media Library Guidelines to the Romanization of Korean Summary of the Transcription System 1) Vowels are transcribed as follows : simple vowels ·ㅏ→ a ·ㅓ→ eo ·ㅗ→ o ·ㅜ→ u ·ㅡ→ eu ·ㅣ→ i ·ㅐ→ ae ·ㅔ→ e ·ㅚ→ oe diphthongs ·ㅑ→ ya ·ㅕ→ yeo ·ㅛ→ yo ·ㅠ→ yu ·ㅐ→ yae ·ㅖ→ ye ·ㅘ→ wa ·ㅙ→ wae ·ㅝ→ wo ·ㅞ→ we ·ㅟ→ wi ·ㅢ→ ui 2) Consonants are transcribed as follows : plosives(stops) ·ㄱ→ g,k ·ㄲ→ kk ·ㅋ→ k ·ㄷ→ d,t ·ㄸ→ tt ·ㅌ→ t ·ㅂ→ b,p ·ㅃ→ pp ·ㅍ→ p affricates ·ㅈ→ j ·ㅉ→ jj ·ㅊ→ ch fricatives ·ㅅ→ s ·ㅆ→ ss ·ㅎ→ h nasals ·ㅁ→ m ·ㄴ→ n ·ㅇ→ ng liquids ·ㄹ→ r,l 3) Proper names such as general family names(Kim, Lee, Park or Pak) and those of companies continued to be written as they have been previously. General Trends in the Korean Press in 2007.7-2008.6 The Korea Press The Media Chronology 2008 in 2007.7-2008.6 6 2008 The Korea Press General Trends in the Korean Press in 2007.7 - 2008.6 Media's watchdog role: Samsung slush fund and BBK scandal The media circles in South Korea confronted numerous issues such as the BBK scandal and a Samsung's slush fund in the second half of 2007, but there was growing criticism that local news media did not play its role in monitoring the developments accurately. News media showed different approaches toward then presidential hopeful Lee Myung-bak in accordance with its political stances. Some conservative media outfits were said to be hesitant in covering the BBK scandal, while progressive and liberal media outlets raised the questions about the BBK issue, stressing the need to probe the candidate's character. In particular, the newspapers parted ways visibly following the prosecutor's announcement that there is no ground for wrongdoing. A group of media personalities took issue with the credibility of the prosecutors' probe, while others claimed that critical news articles on the BBK scandal were biased, citing the results of the investigation. The BBK scandal highlighted the political stances of General Trends in the Korean Media in 2007. 7 ~ 2008. 6 7 the news media, which in turn raised the issue about investigating the presidential hopefuls' background because such coverage could affect the election results. The Korean Broadcasting Commission's election supervisory committee sent a warning to MBC Radio for broadcasting Erica Kim's unilateral allegation. MBC and some civic organizations protested the KBC's decision, arguing that such a move would force the media to give up on investigating the qualification of presidential hopefuls, which is a basic obligation of the media. Some critics proposed that Korean newspapers should reveal their support for a presidential hopeful. The logic is that if newspaper editorials publicly support a candidate, other news articles will tend to seek a neutral and objective perspective. The Journalists Association of Korea conducted a survey of 303 reporters in August of 2007, and found that 56.6 percent of respondents favored the proposal, while 38.5 percent opposed such a move. But there was also lingering worry about the side effects. As long as there is no guarantee for editorial independence, news articles in other sections are feared to produce biased news articles. While the BBK scandal illustrated the political positions of newspapers, the Samsung slush fund coverage dented the traditional role of new media as a critical monitor of capitalist powers. In August 2007, a lawyer named Kim Yong-cheol dropped a bombshell announcement about the existence of slush funds at Samsung. Some news media, however, reported the issue in a cursory way, focusing only on facts. In particular, a handful of newspapers highlighted the counter argument from Samsung and raised the credibility of Kim, prompting complaints about going soft on Samsung. Some economic dailies even went so far as to oppose a special investigation into the Samsung scandal in the name of preventing an economic crisis. Such a pro-business move by the dailies came under fire. Another issue was that Samsung threatened to cut advertisement for newspapers that reported the scandal aggressively. Since the scandal broke out, there was no Samsung advertisement on Hankyoreh and KyungHyang Daily for about fifteen days. Samsung Heavy Industries carried an apology on major newspapers, except for Hankyoreh, concerning the leakage of oil in the Taean area. This move came under public criticism that companies tried to silence news media through advertisement. Citizens, meanwhile, carried advertisements criticizing Samsung's advertisement-based attack against the media and supporting independent news coverage. 8 2008 The Korea Press Samsung's advertisement threat, in fact, highlighted the structural problem of most newspapers, which rely heavily on advertising revenues rather than subscription fees. The proportion of subscription fees in total revenue remains low, which pushes Korean newspapers to depend on the advertising revenues for survival. This situation leads to articles that cater to big advertisers, turning away more subscribers in a vicious cycle. The advertisement threat is reminiscent of the Sisa Journal scandal, which also involved Samsung. The underlying problem is the cozy relations between big advertisers and news media in the form of monetary contributions and support in return for removing negative reports. Concerns are mounting that the news media could not monitor big advertisers properly as long as they depend on the advertisement revenues. News media, therefore, is required to rethink its strategy to win back the trust of readers amid the worsening business environment. Journalists enter politics : polinalist It is hardly a surprise that journalists join the political camp during the election season. But the trend notably accelerated during the presidential election of 2007 and the general election of 2008. As the presidential race started, a number of journalists joined presidential camps. With the inauguration of the new administration, some journalists got positions at government agencies. Those who favored the journalist-turned-politicians argued that journalists are also entitled to choose their jobs freely. But critics claimed that some journalists used their position in the media as a spring-board to enter politics. The predominant public view was that journalists, though entitled to pick their jobs in new fields, should not give up their position as the critical observer of politicians just to join the political circles because of the moral obligation involved in the role of journalists. The debate about "polinalist" sparked controversy about the media- politics collusion and the objectivity of news reports. During the 2007 presidential election campaign, forty former journalists worked for the Lee Myung-bak camp. Most of the former journalists came from major newspapers and broadcasting stations, a fact that raised questions about the possibility that the camp was using the human network to minimize negative reports in the media. The former journalists applied for the party nomination for the National Assembly seats or got elected at media-related state agencies in 2008. Some journalists did not join the campaign, but entered the presidential Blue General Trends in the Korean Media in 2007. 7 ~ 2008. 6 9 House or other government agencies once the election was over. But there were controversies about objective reporting because they had been engaged in news reports right before they entered the Blue House or government agencies. In the eighteenth general election, thirty-six former journalists made it to the National Assembly. Of them, twelve were first-term representatives. By party affiliation, the Grand National Party had twenty-one journalist-turned- representatives, which was the biggest figure, and the Democratic Party had seventeen. There were three non-affiliated members, two pro-Park Geun-hye members, and one Democratic Labor Party member. Organized by news media, KBS topped the list with six reporters entering the National Assembly, followed by MBC (5), Dong-A Ilbo (4), JoongAng Ilbo (4), Chosun Ilbo (3), Hankook Ilbo (3), SBS (3), Hankyoreh (2), KyungHyang (1), Seoul (1), Herald Media (1), Hankyung (1), Kyungin Ilbo (1), and YTN (1). As the critical voices were raised both in and outside the media circles about the journalists jumping into politics, they began to come up with proposals to deal with the issue. Many of the suggestions are in favor of internal regulations or collective agreements that set a grace period for engaging in political activity. However, some people cast doubts over the implementation of the regulations. Back in 2003, KBS revised the internal ethics rules, blocking TV and radio news anchors and those in the political news department from engaging in political activity for at least six months after their duty is over, but the latest National Assembly election demonstrated that such rules were largely ignored. Considering the ineffective regulations, more realistic and reasonable measures should be taken in connection with journalists who find their new career in politics.