EAST-WEST CENTER SPECIAL REPORT

Confucianism Defies the Computer

The Conflict within the Korean Press

A Gateway in Hawaii Between Asia and America

DAVID E. HALVORSEN

Confucianism Defies the Computer

The Conflict within the Korean Press

June 1992

THE EAST-WEST CENTER XHONOLULU, HAWAII Contents

Summary Hi

Prologue v

The Conflict within the Korean Press 1

The First Newspaper 6

Birthplace of Anti-Americanism 12

Confucius: Editor-in-Residence 14

Anti-Americanism, Nationalism, or What? 26

A Few Wild Cards 34

The Last Word 35

Notes 36

This Special Report is one of a series produced by the staff and visiting fellows of the Special Projects unit of the East-West Center. The series focuses on timely, critical issues concerning the United States, Asia, and the Pacific and is intended for a wide audience of those who make or influence policy decisions throughout the region.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author. This paper may be quoted in full or in part without further permission. Please credit the author and the East-West Center. The Center would be grateful for cop• ies of articles, speeches, or other references to this paper.

Please address comments or inquiries to: Special Projects, East-West Center, 1777 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96848.

Telephone: 808-944-7602. Fax: 808-944-7670. Summary

Wimout knowing ti\e force of words, These traits are much different from those of it is impossible to know men. American journalism that call for individual en• Confucius (551-479 B.C.) terprise, insatiable curiosity, balanced news ac• counts, and a role as a surrogate of the people in monitoring government and those institutions During the last five years the press has become that affect America's democratic principles. one of the most influential institutions in South Because of their increasing influence, the Korean Korea. Millions of copies of 85 daily newspapers press can wittingly, or unwittingly, cause mis• and one thousand weeklies find their way into chief in international as well as domestic mat• the homes, hearts, and minds of Korea's 43.5 ters. There is a steady drum of anti-Americanism million people. in their writing that occasionally breaks out into The newspapers are growing in number of pages, a mighty clamor such as during the 1988 Olym• diversity of content, and advertising. It has all pic Games in Seoul. come about since October 29, 1987, when new Less apparent is the philosophical struggle in democratic reforms provided for freedom of the Korea in which the press is a major participant. press, something that has been rare in Korean It is a duel between the neotraditlonalists and history. It is still a transition very much in pro• the progressives. The neotraditlonalists, skill• gress, a transition that the Korean journalists fully invoking the habits of the heart, want to themselves do not fully comprehend. return to isolationism with its concomitant dis• dain for foreign intrusion. The progressives ad• Controlled by outside powers or authoritarian vocate a role for Korea in the community of regimes since the late 19th century, the journal• nations, a role that is fostered by strong eco• ists have reached back to the "habits of the nomic incentives. heart" of the centuries-old Confucian philoso• phy to guide their modern-day newspapers. The Amidst all this social turmoil, the press is rudely valued bonds of friendship, the acceptance of learning that the exercise of freedom is complex. money and gifts, a desire to be part of the ruling It calls for decisions that the editors and report• elite, conformity in society, and presenting only ers never had to make before. So ultimately it one point of view in a story are all legacies of the comes back to Confucius's admonition: Do they Confucian social constitution. know the force of their own words? DAVID E. HALVORSEN was a research fellow at.the East-West Center from October 1991 to March 1992. Prior to that he spent 10 months in South Korea on a Fulbright grant. During that time he interviewed more than a hundred Korean journalists, spent extensive time in Korean news• rooms, and lectured in various universities and newspapers throughout South Korea. It was a homecoming for Mr. Halvorseh, who had served in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1953 to 1955 and as civilian press officer for the United Nations Command in Korea from 1955 to 1960. Part of his early journalistic experience came when he worked part-time at night editing copy for the Korea Times, an English-language newspaper in Seoul. Mr. Halvorsen was graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism with a BJ. During his professional career, he was an assistant managing editor for the Chicago Tribune and editor of the San Francisco Examiner. Prologue

Trepidation has. been my sidekick in preparing would appear and the stranger would tell the this report on the Korean press. I have ventured farmer to abandon the site and find another. The into one of the most complex aspects of Korean geomancer told the farmer to seek him out if society with the hope that my Western eyes do such a stranger appeared. not betray me and that I have produced some• thing more than just another foreign paper, shal• Sure enough, after 10 years had passed, a stranger low in its understanding of the deep-seated appeared and told the farmer to move his site. traditions and culture that guide these remark• The farmer, remembering his instructions, able people. sought out the geomancer, who confronted the stranger. I find some solace in a Korean folk tale about geomancy, the ancient craft wherein people be• "Why did you tell the master to change the site?" lieve that somehow their fortune is connected to the geomancer inquired of the stranger. Mother Earth. Therefore, it is important that "The hill is a kneeling pheasant formation. If the their home and burial site be selected by a geo- pheasant kneels too long it cannot endure it, so mancer, a person with the ability to bring to• that within a limited time it must fly," replied gether wood, water, metal, earth, and fire in an the stranger. alchemy that promises temporal and eternal happiness. The geomancer laughed and said, "Your idea is only a partial view, you have thought of only one According to the tale, recounted in Korean Folk thing, there are other conditions that enter. Yon• Tales: Imps, Ghosts, and Fairies (Charles E. Tuttle der is dog hill, and below is falcon hill and the Co., Tokyo), a geomancer was out searching for stream in front is cat river. a. special place when he became hungry and sought the hospitality of a farmer. He found the "This is the whole group, the dog behind, the farmer to be in mourning and also ascertained falcon just above, and the cat in front," the that no funeral arrangements had been made. He geomancer said. "How then can the pheasant offered his services and selected a site where the fly? It dares not." farmer built a house and prepared a grave. I hope I have seen more than the kneeling pheas• The geomancer said the farmer would have good ant. I hope I have also seen the dog, the falcon, fortune and this came to pass. However, he also and the cat. If I have failed, I am sure there is a warned the farmer that some day a stranger geomancer nearby who will enlighten me.

Confucianism Defies the Computer

n the loading dock of the Korea Republic newspa• per in Seoul, in 1953, several men stood around The Oa large wooden crate that had just arrived by a cargo ship from the United States.

Conflict One took a prying tool and commenced to dismantle the box until it revealed hundreds of pieces of metal cast in many shapes and sizes. The men looked in wonderment Within at all the parts, then looked at each other. Before them reposed a disassembled linotype, the ungainly mechani• cal servant of generations of American newspaper sys• the Korean tems that could produce hundreds of pieces of lead type in minutes, magically lining up words, sentences, and paragraphs in a libretto composed between man and Press machine.

Though the linotype was invented by Ottmar Mergen- thaler in 1884, it was the first such machine to touch the by DAVID E. HALVORSEN shores of Korea. It should have been scant surprise that not a single person at the newspaper had the skill to assemble and operate the machine. Indeed, there was not a soul in all of Korea who could bring that linotype to life save one.

An inquiry to the United States Eighth Army, then present in considerable numbers since the Korean War had re• cently ended, produced a front-line soldier who thought he had the skill to assemble and operate the machine. He was reassigned to the relative comfort of Seoul to accom• plish his specialized mission. Periodicals in Korea: A Decade of Growth

Year Daily News Agency Weekly Monthly Others Total

1980 29 2 97 659 428 1,215 1981 29 2 128 734 522 1,415 1982 29 2 136 780 576 1,523 1983 29 2 142 837 610 1,620 1984 30 2 142 946 646 1,765 1985 30 2 158 1,027 694 1,911 1986 30 2 187 1,150 765 2,134 1987* 30 2 226 1,298 856 2,412 1988 65 2 496 1,733 1,092 3,388 1989 70 2 819 2,137 1,374 4,402 1990 85 2 1,028 2,460 1,608 5,183

Source: Ministry of Information *The Press Freedom reforms were enacted on October 29, 1987. This was followed by a significant increase in the number of daily and weekly newspapers. This summary also includes magazines, mainly in the monthly category, which also have sharply increased. President Chun Doo-hwan (1980-87) placed stringent limits on the number of publications, in fact, he was responsble for closing and consolidating many newspapers and news agencies.

Lee Kyoo-hyun, whose distinguished journal• when someone pushed the start button. istic career predates the arrival of the first linotype, often tells that story when he remi• But in the newsrooms where the editors and nisces with journalists. His still-active career reporters work, it is a different story. These spans two-thirds of the history of modern men and few women trace their antecedents newspapers in Korea.1 to the scribes, philosophers, and advisers of the royal court of the Choson (Yi) dynasty. The By 1988, when Seoul hosted the 24th Olympic culture of the computer, much like the type• Games, South Korean newspapers were using writer before it, is not simply a modern tech• advanced production equipment. The news• nological device but an intrusion on their papers sparkled with high-quality color pho• venerated heritage. tographs and advertisements. Few American newspapers match such quality. However, the adaptation to machines that process words electronically is a cameo of the Acquiring new technology and promptly util• difficult transition that is taking place in South izing it posed no difficulty for the production Korean newsrooms since the enactment of a of newspapers because there was no culture, new freedom of the press law on October 29, no tradition involved. It was all new. High 1987.2 Never in the long history of the Korean technology culture and tradition commenced peninsula has such a freedom of expression

2 Confucianism Defies the Computer been conferred upon the people. There have Korean Media Population, 1991 been brief periods of press freedom, but they are only worthy of footnotes to history.3 Population by Medium (Unit: Persons)

Since 1987 it has been a reality, though the News Agency journalists have found the holy water of their 623 (1.84%) new blessing is laced with vinegar. Broadcast Censors no longer sit in each newsroom. Gov• 12,308 (36.34%) ernment agents no longer come in the night to ransack newsmen's apartments and spirit Newspaper them away for beatings and detention. News• 20,934 (61.82%) papers are not closed down because they have criticized a despot.

This is called the "Golden Era" of the Korean press. Hundreds of publications have been Distribution by Area (Unit: Persons) started, though many are fragile and some have already failed. Journalists are well paid Medium Seoul Provinces Total and they enjoy and relish their prestige in a hierarchical society. Circulation of the major Newspaper 12,978 7,956 20,934 papers keeps increasing as the people seem (62.0%) (38.0%) (100%) absorbed in seeking every printed word. Broadcast 6,594 5,714 12,308 (53.6%) (46.4%) (100%) All the news is not good, however. The com• News Agency 504 119 623 fortable cartels created by past authoritarian (80.9%) (19.1%) (100%) regimes to control the media provided good Total 20.076 13,789 33,865 lives for many journalists. Publishers knew (59.3%) (40.7%) (100%) their profits were assured. Editors did not have to make difficult decisions on how to play the Source: Ministry of Information news because the government told them how to do it. Imbued with the tribal memory of past gov• ernment censorship, these veteran survivors Now competition has started to diffuse the now practice self-censorship, playing the security of the cartel. Advertising that was news to manifest the wisdom and deeds of shared equally by the big newspapers is now central authority. less certain. Advertisers are putting their money where they think it will be most effec• Old customs of accepting gifts, the fellowship tive. Those veteran journalists who did the of press clubs (adopted from thejapanese), the bidding of the authoritarian regimes are strug• writing from the heart instead of from the gling to keep their power, knowing they are facts, and the role of being the consort rather called "collaborators" by younger staff mem• than the watchdog of authority are all coming bers who embraced an idealistic rhetoric of under question. democracy through the volatile student movement of the last three decades. Modern societal issues of environment, health, women's rights, and global issues of

The Conflict within the Korean Press 3 The desire for Korean solutions to Korean problems requires the journalists to reach back to the 500-year reign of the Choson dynasty, which collapsed of its own ineptitude in the 1890s. And in so doing, the press finds itself pinioned like a mighty Gulliver by the small- mindedness of Lilliputians.

Korean journalists, young and old, are proud

of their lineage. They consider themselves members of the ruling class, like the privileged yangban society of the Choson dynasty. The yangban—which literally means officials of the two orders—first came to prominence in the

13th century in the Koryo kingdom, located in the northern half of Korea. These were men

either from military or civilian background who controlled the government. The yangban role was the same in the Choson dynasty. "We are part of the ruling class/' explained Lee Seh-yong, director of international relations for the Korean Federation of Press Unions, illustrating that it is not only management that has an affinity with the yangban society.4

The senior writers among them filter their own opinions into their stories because they believe it is their role to advise, and in many world trade, fishing rights, and finances seem cases please, the president. to baffle the journalists, who all have come out of an educational system that teaches con• It is a role similar to that of their yangban formity, not the Western trait of dispassionate predecessors who wrote poems, essays, par• curiosity and the practice of individual in• ables, and longer stories that obliquely, but quiry. effectively, were for the pleasure of royal eyes and ears. Criticism generally meant a short Before, American interests enjoyed an immu• career for a scribe at the royal court, a pattern nity from press criticism except for an occa• that came to repeat itself in the authoritarian sional viral outbreak when an autocratic regimes of the 20th century. Korean ruler would sneeze in Uncle Sam's face. Now the anti-Americanism in the press comes The press freedom law was part of a package from a more virulent strain that will probably of basic democratic reforms adopted on Octo• have to run its course. ber 29, 1987. In full context, its effect to the present is really a faint tracing on the history In short, press freedom has brought with it the of the Korean press, which shares in the doc• complexities of a more open and responsible trine of a hierarchical authority that wisdom society. and great deeds flow from top to bottom.

4 Confucianism Defies the Computer This cultural inheritance from the Choson dynasty is difficult for Westerners to under• stand. Intellectually, foreign students of Ko• rean history and culture can grasp why the Korean character is what it is, but they have considerable difficulty integrating that knowl• edge into cultural and commercial relation• ships. For example, American diplomats in Seoul attribute anti-American editorials and stories in the Korean press to a wave of nation• alism, and with press freedom, the release of generations of pent-up frustration. Much of THE FLAG of the Republic of Korea was de• this frustration is as indiscriminate as pigeon signed around symbols drawn from the phi• losophy of the Korean people. The white droppings and of no consequence. background of the flag represents the land, the circle stands for the people, and the four Often it does concern issues of considerable sets of bars represent the government. The consequence. The Korean journalists do not equally divided circle is an ancient symbol of respond to American entreaties to present the universe expressing the dualism of the cosmos. The central idea is one of balance both sides of the story. It simply is not in and harmony even amidst constant move• keeping with their traditions. ment within the sphere of infinity. The bars at the corners also express opposition and Such a situation frustrates diplomats and for• balance. The three unbroken lines at the eign businessmen alike when they read adver• upper left represent heaven; the broken lines at the lower right represent earth. The lines sarial stories. It is particularly galling when at the lower left symbolize fire and those in news articles clearly have their genesis in some the opposite corner, water. The flag is said to Korean government office. Most Korean jour• have been devised in 1882 during the nego• nalists simply will not make an inquiry to get tiations with japan that led to Korea's first other views. Western-style treaty. It was formally adopted as the national flag the next year.

This becomes even more painful for career- minded diplomats and businessmen who must explain this dilemma to the home office cording to the council, was to restore frugality in the United States. That "it is part of their and decency as virtues of Korean life-style. tradition" is a response that holds little Indeed, such virtues are intrinsic in the phi• currency for advancement within the State losophy of Confucianism. Department or to become executive vice- president at corporate headquarters. However, Banners were strung up in busy intersections. it is accurate, pale as it seems. Pamphlets were handed out along the streets, and the National Cooperatives Federation At no time did this clash of cultures become published 700,000 copies of a comic book that more evident than the fall of 1990. contained a "Buy Korean Products" theme.

The National Council of Consumer Protection Meanwhile, the Korean government aligned Organizations, described as private organiza• itself with Japan and the European Commu• tions of the people, inaugurated an austerity nity against the United States in favoring pro• campaign. The purpose of the campaign, ac• tectionism for agriculture, a heated topic at

The Conflict within the Korean Press 5 the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade after President Roh Tae-woo summoned his (GATT) Uruguay Round talks. The campaign economic ministers to his office and told them was warmly supported by the Korean media. to avoid "unnecessary" trade friction with the United States.5 A frustrated American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul, angry at what it perceived to be a The implication is that the editors got the government-orchestrated anti-import cam• message. paign, took its case to the American media by way of Washington, D.C. The U.S. govern• ment reacted strongly and won the American media to its view that the campaign was or• chestrated by the Korean government and the The First Newspaper private consumer groups were a front. On April 7, 1896, SS Chae-p'il, a naturalized The Korean press described the United States American citizen with the anglicized name of as the original consumption-oriented Western Philip Jaisohn, established the first general capitalist society where consumption is con• newspaper in Korea. It was a thrice-weekly sidered a virtue. The same press described Ko• publication with two pages printed in han'gul, rea as a struggling nation trying to cling to its the Korean alphabet, so all the people could frugal traditions of the past. One writer de• read it, not just the scholars learned in Chinese scribed it as a "shrimp among the whales." ideographs, and two pages in English. It was This frugality campaign featuring America as called the Tongnip Sh'mmun, or in English, The the guy in the black hat preoccupied Korean Independent. Each year April 7 is commemo• newspapers for three weeks. Each article and rated in Korea as National Newspaper Day. editorial read like a morality play. Only, there were no names for the cast, and no speaking Dr. So had lived for 12 years in the United parts, but rather some cosmic source of infor• States, where he earned a medical degree and mation and insight. learned of American politics and newspapers. This was at a time when the Hearst and Pulit• This writer asked the U.S. Information Service zer newspapers in New York City were engaged director if any local journalist had asked the in an intense competitive struggle that later ambassador for a comment. He said there had would be called the era of "Yellow Journalism" not been a single query. The writer also asked in America. a local newspaper business editor why he did not call the press attache or the American Clearly, his American experience influenced Chamber of Commerce for a comment. He the guiding principles of Dr. S5's modest en• replied that it would be a waste of time, a terprise. He dedicated the newspaper to be a comment that was most likely a euphemism watchdog of government and enlightening for a reluctance to get all sides of a story. for the people. But Dr. So must have realized he would likely run athwart of an autocratic Whatever the merits of the arguments, government and its privileged classes since he thoughtful and balanced discussion of the is• put forth with each edition this prominent sues in the Korean press was rare. The press disclaimer: "Our readers must distinctly un• criticism of the American pressure virtually derstand that we are in no sense responsible ended on December 2,1990. That was one day for the sentiments or opinions of our corre-

6 Confucianism Defies the Computer spondents, for the accuracy of their assertions, stark headings called "Department News" and or for the deductions they may choose to draw "Government Gazette" the reader got terse therefrom." reports about what the government was do• ing. For example, in the November 28, 1896, Some extracts from The Independent are only edition, it was reported that "the Minister of of peripheral interest to this report, but they Justice, Mr. Han Kunsul sent in his resignation are still worth noting as a reminder of the but His Majesty refused to accept it." historical value of old newspaper files. The editorial of Saturday, November 28, 1896, be• Also, "The Home Dep't issued an order to the gins with these words: "The lack of education Governors of the provinces stating that ac• on the part of the Government officials causes cording to the newspaper reports the Magis• all sorts of irregularities in the working of the trates collect revenues from the people from Government machinery. The constant rumors eighty cents to one dollar more than the of plots and conspiracies have a very injurious amount authorized by the Government. The effect in the progress of the country...." Governors are hereby instructed to investigate There are those who might argue that this the matter thoroughly; and if they should find paragraph sums up the plight of Korean rulers the reports correct, the names of the guilty and governments throughout history. Magistrates must be reported to the Dep't at once." The activities of Americans and other Western adventurers who found their way to Korea in Here, the newspaper, like its American coun• the late 1800s to build a railroad and streetcar terparts, takes some credit. To wit: "We are glad lines and become merchants make for fasci• to see that the Home Dep't officials read The nating reading. In an article on December 17, Independent." 1898, a writer describes walking up the New West Gate street and meeting Mr. J. L. Fer• In an editorial, Dr. So took note of the tradi• guson, the superintendent of construction of tion of American Thanksgiving and commis• the Seoul Electric Railway. Mr. Ferguson de• erated that American families in Korea would scribes the construction progress and is have to do without the traditional turkey, but reported as saying the project would be com• he optimistically suggested they could do pleted by Christmas. This apparently was an nicely with a good-sized Korean "old hen." optimistic report since the paper reported on December 20, 1898, that in regard to the rail• Aside from personnel matters such as appoint• way "we were led into conclusions that are not ments, dismissals, and resignations, nary a entirely warranted by the facts." name of any official is mentioned in the gov• ernment pronouncements. Ninety-five years A letter from a Mr. H. Collbran, otherwise not later, the newspapers essentially do the same identified but apparently a man of authority, thing though the headlines are more descrip• said the tracks and overhead wires were in• tive and the stories are longer and consist of stalled but were awaiting machinery from more detail. America for the power house. However, the stories still read like government In the news columns of The Independent a decrees. Almost invariably, all official an• tradition was established that carries on today nouncements or statements appear in the in Korea's modern newspapers. That is the newspapers with the lead paragraph starting announcements from the royal court. Under out with "The Government" or "The Minis-

The Conflict within the Korean Press 7 try" doing something. The Hankook Who and same way in Korea. Everybody is anonymous, its English-language sister paper, The Korea as is custom in Confucian tradition, unless it Times, reported on June 26, 1991, problems is absolutely unavoidable to use the name, or with major housing projects. It was a top story an official requests his or her name in the that day and for several subsequent days. government announcement.

The papers reported, "Amid mounting safety The practice of including a statement attrib• fears in the construction of apartments, the uted to "some critical analysts" or "industry government has sources" can often be decided to begin the view of the jour• thorough checkups nalists writing the on the buildings story. This is a com• now under con• mon practice in Ko• ~A v-? i °j «i -a *i y * » . • •>» -. -n I ,i 2 struction ..." (Eng• k . o r .1 Jl rean newspapers, lish version). Vol 3 NO. tOt though the journal• ists will admit it only Not a single name privately.7 a» IIPOIIIT or KOKXA* HEWS, POLITIC*. CUMMZBCE, appears in the arti• L1III1TDII, IDOC1TIOH, SILIQIflM A N P PROCBCM. cle. Later references SEOUL, KO^EA, TUESDAY, AUQU?T 30TH, 1£ Dr. So found his ca• are made to anony• reer as a newspaper I0IEAN MAIL SCHEDULE mous Ministry of publisher to be a Construction offi• short one. He was cials who will under• forced out in 1897 by take the investiga• a pro-Chinese fac• tion. Routinely an anonymous source is attrib• tion in the Privy Council and returned to the uted for a final and opinionated paragraph. In United States. The Tongnip Shinmun was placed this example, "some critical analysts suggest under a caretaker management and ceased that the apartment completion schedule in publication in December 1899.8 the five new towns should be slowed to keep pace with the progress of the overall econ• The first daily newspaper was established in omy." April 1898 and lasted one year. The editor was Syngman Rhee, who won the favor of the U.S. Anonymous sources are not uncommon in the government for his staunch anti-communist United States, especially in news matters in• views following liberation from the Japanese volving the federal government where the at the end of World War II. He later became media countenance a system of understood the first president of the Republic of Korea. definitions of credibility that range from the highly authoritative or unimpeachable down Mr. Rhee's newspaper sought political reforms, to the usually reliable source. In journalistic modernization, and independence for Korea. terms it is sort of a grading system like an AAA But when he became president in 1948, he had or BB bond rating. Unimpeachable is the presi• little tolerance for criticism in the press and dent or a cabinet member speaking. Usually even closed one newspaper. reliable is somebody who claims to be "in the know."6 In 1904, thejapanese took control of Korea as a protectorate. The Japanese military com• However, such a system is not defined in the mander invoked prior censorship on the press.

8 Confucianism Defies the Computer For all practical purposes, it would not be until selves in their haste to secure all the good 1987, some 83 years later, that a Korean editor things in Korea, and furthermore, it seems could sit in his newsroom and make his own nothing short of a scandal that the Korean decisions. government should be compelled to pay a high salary to an official like Mr. Megata whose Except for brief periods, the nation was under chief energies are directed to assist Japan in her the control of thejapanese, the Americans, or schemes." Mr. Megata was described as a clever the authoritarian regimes of presidents Syng- financier who was attempting to shift Korean man Rhee, Park Chung-hee, and Chun Doo- financial assets to Japan. hwan. Mr. Park and Mr. Chun both seized power through military coups. Press repres• Newspapers were established in Honolulu, San sion and manipulation were the normal situ• Francisco, and Vladivostok, where there were ation. Undoubtedly, thousands of Korean Korean exile communities. Soon thejapanese journalists never experienced a single day in were publishing 30 newspapers, 16 of which their careers when they were free of govern• were dailies, in Korea. Only one Korean news• ment mandates regarding what they could paper was allowed and it was the propaganda and could not write. journal of thejapanese governor-general.

Somehow during this long, dark journey there There were no radio or television stations, of were always a few journalists who resisted course. The Korean people were totally iso• tyranny. And there were and are the survivors, lated, not only from the world, but from each those who went along with the power struc• other in that they were denied all news except ture. In many cases, they benefited hand• what the Japanese allowed. There has never somely in wealth and prestige. It is one of the been a comparable period in American his• sources of friction between the old and young tory. It is difficult to comprehend the totality journalists today. of the Japanese information control in the context of today's instant global capability of The Daehan Maeil Shinbo (Korea Daily News), the media.10 established in 1904, named a British journal• ist, Ernest T. Bethell, as its editor, in the hopes The Samil Independence Movement of March the Japanese would leave him and the paper 1, 1919, surprised the Japanese. Korean na• alone. The newspaper had both English- and tionalists had managed to secretly organize Korean-language pages. Bethell hung a sign mass demonstrations throughout the country, over the front door proclaiming "No Entrance highlighted by the reading of a declaration of to Japanese" and vigorously opposed thejapa• independence in Pagoda Park in downtown nese, who seemed to be puzzled about what to Seoul. do with the rebellious Englishman. They even brought charges against him in a British con• At first thejapanese vigorously cracked down sular court.9 Mr. Bethell, under constant har• on the movement, but as time passed the assment, finally resigned and went to resistance only grew stronger. Then the Japa• Shanghai, where he died a few months later. nese eased up, even allowing establishment of three Korean-language newspapers. Two, the Mr. Bethell's editorials were quite intense, as Dong-A Who and the Chosun Ubo, are among evinced in the opening words of this editorial Korea's leading newspapers today. dated January 31, 1905: "It really appears as though the Japanese are over reaching them• With a global war in the wind, the two papers

The Conflict within the Korean Press 9 were closed in 1940. Following the uncondi• They had remaining only the faintest spark of tional surrender of thejapanese on August 15, courage, but when thousands of high school 1945, and the liberation of Korea, the expec• and college students led a national protest tations for a free press were high. The Dong-A against the rigged reelection of Mr. Rhee in Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo resumed publication 1960, the press vigorously joined the charge. and within a year 57 dailies and numerous weekly and monthly newspapers were estab• "Rhee and the press had a falling out when the lished.11 general election of 1960 exceeded all toler• ances," Mr. Kim of the Chosun Ilbo said. "A Even though the Americans were in control, strong military backed Rhee, but the Dong-A the Korean press found its journey only Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo said, 'this was too slightly brighter. "From 1945 to 1948 was an much.' " agonizing period in the Korean press because of the strife between communism and conser• Mr. Kim says the press led the overthrow of the vatism," explained Kim Dae-jong, chief edito• Rhee regime. Student leaders of that era said rial writer for the Chosun Ubo.12 they led the movement. Scores of students lost their lives when they challenged bullets with The U.S. Army Military Government in Korea their bodies. One point is clear, those newspa• invoked its Ordinance No. 88 to ban all com• pers that inspired the demand for Mr. Rhee to munist and leftist publications, leaving only resign became the circulation leaders and right-wing newspapers that supported Syng- broadened the protest from a student move• man Rhee's bid to become the nation's first ment to a popular movement. president. It is a legacy that remains today. The nation got a new constitution and an Following the Korean War armistice in 1953, absolute freedom of the press, unlike anything Mr. Rhee established two government news• before or since. There was an explosion of new papers: The Korean-language Seoul Shinmun publications with the number of dailies in• and the English-language Korea Republic}2 creasing from 42 to 113 in a matter of months. Lifting a page straight out of the history of the Most disappeared as fast as they started be• Choson dynasty, Mr. Rhee and his ministers cause they were not financially viable. Fewer regarded the press only as a vehicle to commu• than a dozen were profitable.15 nicate their views and actions to the public.14 Moreover, the press was not prepared to cope Nominally, Mr. Rhee allowed freedom of the with its new freedom, Mr. Kim said. "We did press, but it was a charade. He used the na• not know how to handle the news. The stu• tional security law, as did his successors, as a dents were chanting 'Let's go North/ and the Sword of Damocles, poised over every news• press missed the opportunity to handle it re• room. Those newspapers that unflinchingly sponsibly." As it turned out, the student move• supported Mr. Rhee prospered. Those that did ment to go north gave Maj. Gen. Park not, such as the Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo, Chung-hee, with the backing of the army, an were punished with suspension, and the excuse to overthrow in May 1961 the Second Kyunghyang Shinmun was ordered to close in Republic of Prime Minister Chang Myon. 1959. That was not all. Many journalists extorted Most journalists were poorly paid, demoral• privilege and money from government offices, ized, and lacked reporting skills and ethics. businesses, and other organizations. Each story,

10 Confucianism Defies the Computer Korean Presidents and the Press

Subject Park Chung-hee Chun Doo-hwan Roh Tae-woo (1961-1979) (1980-1987) (1988-)

National Security Issues Press Controlled Press Controlled Press Guided Economic News Favorable Only Favorable Only Press Guided Criticism of President No No Yes Criticism of U.S.* Controlled Controlled Yes Student Protests Downplayed Downplayed Major Play

*Both presidents Park and Chun used the press to sway Korean public opinion against certain U.S. policies they did not like. President Roh's administration still lets it be known to the press his priorities on national security and the economy. The press prudently follows this guidance through self-censorship. Mr. Roh's administration was embarrassed in 1990 when it was discovered the government was keeping secret files on many journalists. Supposedly, the practice was halted. it seemed, had a price tag. Heroes in 1960, they Newspapers were closed. Sunday editions were were seen as buffoons and thieves in 1961. The abolished and weekday publication restricted. dark days were back and the press had contrib• Owners, editors, and many reporters were ar• uted to their own undoing. rested and imprisoned. Journalists were tor• tured. Some were beaten with rolled-up With the overthrew of the Second Republic a newspapers, and others had the bristles of new era of press repression began. Gen. Park their beards extracted one by one. Even their did not like the press. When he was a regional family members were threatened. The pub• commander he saw the prevalent corruption lisher of the so-called radical Minjok Daily was in the provincial press. He had a ready-made executed on a charge of "Special Anti-national excuse to suppress it. Activities."16

"This was a harsh time. Park needed the press Still, certain journalists and newspapers defied and eventually he learned to control the give Park, reporting on scandals within his govern• and take with the press," Mr. Kim said. "He was ment. The Dong-A Ilbo even dared to criticize skillful." He controlled the newsprint supply the much-feared Korean CIA for arresting and and advertising revenue and gave newspaper detaining journalists. management special privileges in exchange for their support. A period of despair came when the Korean Newspapers Association, the organization of "Park was not interested in politics. He would daily newspaper publishers, caved in to the let the newspapers write about politics," Mr. government.17 A similar situation occurred in Kim said. "But he would tolerate no criticism 1987 when the newspaper editors' association of his economic programs, the military, or declined an appeal from the national lawyers' himself. For example, he would not tolerate association to take the leadership in a free any criticism of his 'New Villages' program." press movement. That was a massive rebuilding of villages.

The Conflict within the Korean Press 11 When Mr. Park's wife was murdered in August combined. The same occurred to radio and 1974 in an assassination attempt upon his newspapers, all to make central control easier. own life, the Korean leader changed, Mr. Kim said. He reportedly became a heavy drinker. Consistent with the history of Korea, the law His distaste for the press increased, and he is whatever the current ruler says it is. Gen. became critical of American policies, so much Chun was no exception. Eventually he placed so a conspiracy story still moves about in press in each newsroom agents who told the editors circles. That story centers on Mr. Park's assas• what stories to use and how to position them sination by his security chief on October 26, in the newspapers. 1979. According to the conspiracy theory, the United States masterminded his assassination because he was becoming so obdurate. Such stories refuse to go away, like the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories in the Birthplace of United States. Anti-Americanism The stories of individual and newspaper resis• tance to President Park are endless. Reporters Following a public uprising in Kwangju in became so resourceful they would leak anti- May, 1980 in which 200 or more people were Park stories to the foreign reporters, who were killed by Korean combat troops, Gen. Chun able to file stories for their own newspapers, ordered the media to call the dissidents "ban• magazines, or wire services. The stories would dits." filter back to Korea. If anti-Americanism in Korea had a birthplace, After Mr. Park's assassination, journalists once it was that bloody day in Kwangju. The per• again became optimistic they could openly ceptual damage was enormous and still is and freely practice their craft. But, like 1945 prominent in the minds of Koreans despite and 1960, it was a brief period of liberty. platitudes from both Americans and Korean officials that it is history. Soon Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan led a military junta that seized control. Censorship and re• Either skillfully or fortuitously, Gen. Chun prisal again became a way of life for the media. involved the United States by requesting per• Again certain newspapers fought back. The mission of the American ambassador and top KyunghyangShinmun ran blank white spaces in military commander to move the troops of the the paper to indicate what had been censored. Korean army's 20th division to Kwangju. He Once more, journalists were tortured. When did not need that permission since that unit he became president, Mr. Chun placed upon was already under his direct control. publishers the responsibility to keep their re• porters in line. Many complied, and the ill-will But the Korean populace, conditioned by 35 of the reporters toward management exists to years of guidance from their American "big this day. brother," readily believed the United States could have stopped Gen. Chun. Maybe "big Both the publishers and the broadcast com• brother" could have intervened, but the pany chiefs agreed to purification of their Americans said they were caught by surprise staffs. Blacklisted journalists could find work and could not have done anything to halt 18 only as laborers. News agencies were closed or Gen. Chun.

12 Confucianism Defies the Computer With total control, Gen. Chun was able to best schools, obtained restricted foreign lux• keep American official protests and indigna• ury goods, and had access to the high-ranking tion out of the Korean media. Instead, he officials of government. Many hold forth to• exploited the American involvement, such as day while those journalists who fought press it was, to deflect internal criticism of his tac• controls under Mr. Park and Mr. Chun still find tics. He summoned publishers and editors and themselves outside the establishment press. elaborated on American knowledge, thereby There is bitterness and frustration. implying acquiescence, of all his major ac• tions, including his seizure of power.19 When Roh Tae-woo, Mr. Chun's hand-picked presidential designee, called for press freedom It had to be the low point in Korean-American in 1987, it was 101 years after SS Chae-p'il relations. The Korean media were merely a (Philip Jaisohn) founded the Tongnip Shinmun. puppet on a string, incapable of inde• During that first century, the press rarely ex• pendently sorting out the facts and letting the perienced a day free of government control. chips fall where they may. In a nation so proud of its homogeneity, the Chun Doo-hwan, shortly after he was in• press is anything but. It was founded by an stalled as president, became the first foreign American citizen, Dr. So, who is believed to be chief of state to meet President Ronald Reagan. the first Korean naturalized in America; it The meeting verified in the minds of the Ko• turned to a Britisher in a futile attempt to defy rean people the collusion of the United States the Japanese; then it submitted to Japanese in the Kwangju uprising. The people had no and American control before indigenous way of knowing, and the press was not permit• authoritarians took over. ted to tell them, that Mr. Reagan had agreed to meet with Mr. Chun in exchange for a So it is part American, a bit British, part Japa• promise that Mr. Chun would spare the life of nese, part authoritarian, and now under self- opposition leader Kim Dae-jung, then under a control. Most of all, it is Chos6n dynasty death sentence for sedition. yangban guided by a tradition-bound Con- fucianist philosophy. Nine years later, after Mr. Chun had left office in disgrace and gone off to a mountain mon• Shim Jae-hoon, Seoul bureau chief of the Far astery to atone for his sins, the U.S. govern• Eastern Economic Review, himself twice impris• ment issued a white paper on its version of the oned by authoritarian regimes, explained in Kwangju matter in which it argued it had used an interview what the past century has done every diplomatic resource in an effort to halt to Korean society, including the press.20 "The Mr. Chun's violent action. But anti-American• social and political aspects of Korea have not ism had exploded in many forms during the developed like the nation's military and econ• intervening years. omy," he said. "When Park Chung-hee took over, he turned to the military because it had Meanwhile, compliant newspaper manage• the discipline and the managerial skills to lead ment just seemed to hunker down and allow the nation forward in its economic develop• events to run their course. The publishers and ment. editors became wealthy under Mr. Chun. The cartel he authorized guaranteed handsome ad• "Even soldiers who came from the rural areas vertising revenues. Senior editors and writers at least got the training and discipline in the lived in fine homes, sent their children to the army. However, because of this characteristic,

The Conflict within the Korean Press 13 the political and social sides did not develop," can journalists view themselves as surrogates he said. "This was also true of the students. of the people. Eventually the students developed as undisci• plined and not well educated and, of course, The Confucian tradition brings quite another they became institutionalized as the so-called person to the newsroom. The Korean journal• conscience of the nation." ist considers himself as part of the ruling class, not the voice of the people. Pronouncements Mr. Shim talked of a "rage" in Koreans. "They from superiors are readily accepted without seem to have this burning rage and it lashes question; the journalists do not seek out ex• out in many forms against the government." clusive stories lest they embarrass their fellow He said he is not sure what causes the rage, but reporters, and anonymity is a virtue, thus he believes the answer lies in the long histori• eliminating the need for direct quotations and cal suppression of the people. attributions. In summation, the Korean jour• nalist sees himself as an adviser to the royal court. That advice can be critical as well as praiseworthy. Confucius: The press tradition is so intertwined with Ko• Editor-in-Residence rea's hierarchical society and Confucianism that to make a course correction is not a simple It would be convenient if the understanding matter of resetting the sails but rather a re• of the newsroom culture could be found in a quirement to redesign the boat. There is little couple of keystrokes on a computer. No, this evidence that this will happen soon. search must go through the symbolic back copies of pen-and-ink scrolls of the scribes of In the newsrooms, the reporters and senior the 19th-century Chos5n dynasty. writers take their pens and carefully write out their story for the day in Chinese ideographs The outward traits of moral righteousness, and han'gul, the basic Korean phonetic alpha• deference to superiors, and politeness to avoid bet. Though Korea's students now use text embarrassment are in vivid contrast to Ameri• books that read left to right and horizontal like can values of independence, self-reliance, and American textbooks, the Korean journalist creativity, generally summed up in the word will move his pen to the upper right-hand individualism. The ghost of Confucius is an corner of the page, writing vertically from editor-in-residence in every newsroom in Ko• right to left, just as the scribes of the ChosSn rea. dynasty did 500 years ago.

How does this translate into journalistic prac• When he completes his writing, he hands it to tices? American newsmen and women are a young woman. She sits before a computer, competitive and they vigorously pursue sto• punching the keys that will electronically con• ries. They interview sources, they check docu• vey the ancient ritual of the pen to the com• ments and records, they are skeptical, they are puter typesetting equipment of the newspaper always looking for the exclusive story, all in production room. The writers sit back in their keeping with a tradition of being the watch• chairs contemplating other matters, like the dog of government and those institutions that scribes of old sitting on a mountaintop, their affect the American democratic system of minds uncluttered by the mundane clumsi• checks and balances. Simply put, the Ameri• ness of electronic intrusion.

14 Confucianism Defies the Computer pointment, the first thing the writers want to •} The Lesser Language ascertain is the TK connection. Other indica• tors include whether the appointee was a

' Han'gul is the basic Korean classmate of President Roh. When the embat• ~ alphabet. It has 24 vowels and tled and discredited president of the Fifth Re• consonants. However, virtually public, Chun Doo-hwan, announced he was Jf- all the major newspapers con• stepping down and picked Mr. Roh as his tinue to use Chinese ideograms candidate, the writers quickly noted Mr. Roh °| in addition to han'gul. Use of and Mr. Chun were from KyQngsang province Chinese ideograms creates type- and mates in the class of 1955 at the military °M setting problems for the newspa- ^ pers and gives them a sameness academy. of appearance because of a limit 71 on typefaces. Scholars call Because of this, they saw little hope for han'gul the lesser language, thus change, but President Roh surprised them. He implying people who cannot did not follow the character role they had read Chinese characters are not ° well-educated. already assigned him because of his back• ground. Rather, he announced a series of dra• matic democratic reforms.

On the other hand, Kim Dae-jung, the peren• Senior newspapermen inject their own feel• nial opposition candidate, comes from the ings of the heart into their writings. This is Cholla provinces in southwestern Korea. Peo• called writing with nunch'i. Much of this style ple from this region are thought to be argu- of commentary is remarkably accurate and mentive and lacking in sophistication. Thus insightful, but a flaw in writing from the heart writers will frequently refer to his ChSlla back• is misreading a serious case of dyspepsia as ground to explain certain of his actions. inspiration. Furthermore, since the newspa• pers lift stories from each other with abandon, An American writer reviews the public state• a misguided literary missile launched by a ments, political voting record, and ideology of known writer may never be detected as a dud. a new official and draws his conclusions on that basis. Regionalism is a factor, but it is not Through the practice of nunch'i the writers rely given the importance found in Korea. The heavily on birthplace, schooling, and friend• Korean writer determines a person's pedigree ships in assessing the character of newsmak• as the precursor of what he will do in govern• ers. If a new government appointment is ment. The American writers look less at the made, they want to know his home city and pedigree and more at what the individual has province, what schools he attended, including done in public life. primary, when he was graduated and who were his classmates. From this the senior writ• Both systems seem to work, at least to the ers deduce the character of the individual and satisfaction of the respective writers, who have what can be expected of him in his new post. different habits of the heart. Given the ho• mogenous character of its society, the Korean For example, newspaper writers often refer to writers' system is more often than not on the the TK connection. President Roh Tae-woo is mark. from the city of Taegu and Kyongsang prov• ince. If the president makes a political ap• Reporters and subeditors bow slightly on ap-

The Conflict within the Korean Press 15 proaching senior editors. They stand with develop the story by calling other news hands folded behind their backs listening to sources. instructions or advice that is given in polite terms by the senior editors. Confrontation, If a reporter sought details beyond the content common in American newsrooms, is rare in of the press release, he would ultimately have Korean newsrooms. Politeness and civility a more complete account. If this story ap• prevail on the surface even though there may peared in his newspaper only, the other club be hidden feelings of anger. members would be asked by their editors why they did not have such a complete story. This The journalists normally work a six-day week, would be a loss of face. The personal relation• spending up to 12 hours a day on the job. ships of the press club are more important However, it is acceptable for editors and re• than the individual enterprise needed to de• porters to doze in their chairs. It is also com• velop a complete story. This characteristic mon to take a late afternoon break and go to helps account for the tone of royal decree a sauna, then return for the rush of the eve• found in government announcements. ning deadline. After that, it is off to the bars with workmates for several hours of drinking. This press club bonding comes from one of the five fundamental relationships of Confucian• Within the media, nothing is more powerful ism. To wit: "Between friends there should be than the press clubs. These clubs, known as faithfulness."22 These friendships are formed kijadan, exist in city halls, police headquarters, in school and become stronger than the ties and all the government ministries. They are that perpetuate the careers of American pro• the gatekeepers. A reporter must belong to the fessional baseball managers. club or he does not get access to the newsmak• ers.21 The club members determine the mem• "Schools, especially those above primary bership. The press club is both fraternal and school, became, more powerfully than almost professional, and it exerts peer pressure on its anywhere else, the focus of loyalties and group members to share news with each other. coherence," wrote Gregory Henderson, a spe• cialist on Korea. Reporters who are not on the approved list can be turned away from covering press confer• "Outstanding among these were the student ences. Generally, separate press briefings are and alumni bodies of Chosen's private high held for foreign journalists, so they seldom schools and colleges, both Christian and non- run into a conflict with this custom. One Christian. Given the lack, as De Tocqueville so practical reason is the language barrier. The beautifully puts the plight of the isolated man, friendships are paramount. In most cases this of 'hereditary friends whose cooperation he is male bonding, and it is so powerful a rela• may demand or class upon whose sympathy tionship that the reporters share the news and he may rely/ school friends, especially high will do nothing to embarrass a fellow club school friends, became the young Korean's member. lifetime circle, the men he looked to for help to the end," Mr. Henderson observed.23 This gives the government a form of press control. For example, when a minister issues The press club system ratifies the belief of a statement through his spokesman, the press journalists that they are part of the ruling club members take it and pass it on to their class. Through the press clubs, they have ac• respective newsrooms. There is no effort to cess to the president or his cabinet members.

16 Confucianism Defies the Computer Reporting: American Style

KANC DUK-IANG was a young government to make an Mr. Kang started to check out business reporter on the announcement. But Mr. Kang's the story in the government English-language Korea Daily. instincts were to go for the bureaucracy. It was a slow He had little experience and story. process since such officials are struggled with economic sto• The tipster told him the Minis• not accustomed to tenacious ries that had to be translated try of National Defense had questioning from a reporter. He from Korean into English. He decided to sign a multimillion- called the American representa• admired the way American dollar contract with General tives of both General Dynamics reporters pursued stories but Dynamics Corporation to mod• and McDonnell-Douglas. They doubted he would ever have ernize the Republic of Korea Air were more forthcoming and such an opportunity himself, Force. The Ministry selected spoke on the record. since it is not the press tradition General Dynamics' F-16 jet Everything his tipster had in his native land. fighter after previously saying it given him held up. He had an Day in and day out, he took was going to acquire the F-18A exclusive story, American style, the government handouts or from McDonnell-Douglas. and he submitted it to his edi• culled the Korean-language This was a big story for two tors. They went with it in the newspapers for stories that reasons. First, South Koreans next day's edition. None of the could be translated. Then there are always mindful of the mili• Korean-language newspapers was the day his telephone rang. tary threat from the North. or other media picked it up. In He listened to the caller and Modern aircraft means stronger fact, it was three days later, slowly realized he was being defenses. Second, the Koreans when the Ministry put out its given an important news tip want the technology to build own announcement confirm• from a good source^ Tradition• their own jet fighters and Gen• ing Mr. Kang's exclusive. It was ally, a reporter acknowledges eral Dynamics's offer would only then that the other papers the call and waits for the move them closer to that goal. carried the story.

Access to the inner circles of government is a observed. "Some of it is good ... but there is heady experience. also an increasing social intimacy between reporters and journalists in Washington and Even American journalists vie for access to the the people we write about and cover," Mr. powerful in government, and some forget the Broder cautioned.24 traditional watchdog of government role of the press. David Broder, the distinguished po• This kind of soul-searching does not take place litical reporter for the Washington Post, noted in Korean press circles. It would be inconsis• this in a speech in December 1990 at the tent with their standing in the hierarchy, the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, where one that derives from the ChosSn dynasty. he was the George Chaplin Scholar-in-Resi- The closer they can get to the seat of power, dence. the more likely they are to achieve wealth, fame, and a political career. "Certainly in Washington, D.C, in the time we have lived there, there has been a melding Nowhere is influence peddling more impor• and a coalescing of the world of journalism tant than at the Blue House, the presidential and the world of politics that has been fairly mansion. Many of the press club members dramatic and, to me, fairly disturbing," he there have been invited to take prestigious

The Conflict within the Korean Press 17 posts in the Ministry of Information. Fifty-five ernment pronouncements have a smooth former reporters ran for the national assembly journey to the editor's desk. A press club mem• in 1987 and 26 won seats. Some 9 percent of ber is not going to walk down the corridor to the legislature was composed of former jour• a private phone and start checking out the nalists.25 veracity or motives of a government press release. The sting of government disfavor and The watchdog role as a surrogate of the people the humiliation from his friends because he is well down the list of priorities. Thus another broke the code would be simply too much to fundamental difference, perhaps the most bear.

^Government censorship has been replaced by self- censorship, so the government statement goes into the newspaper, unchallenged, unquestioned, and unfettered

fundamental difference, emerges in the tradi• Meanwhile, the desk editor at the newspaper tion of the Korean press compared with the has an opportunity to see that the story is fully tradition of the Western press. American jour• developed. Normally, this is an older, experi• nalists believe strongly in their role as watch• enced journalist who survived the heavy- dogs of government and those institutions handed repression of the Chun Doo-hwan and organizations that can wield powerful regime. If he is even more senior, he likely influence over the common man. experienced press controls and censorship un• der Park Chung-hee and even back to the There are Korean writers who find themselves 1950s and Syngman Rhee. in opposition to the government and now are able to express it in print because of the 1987 Those were brutal times, not easily forgotten basic press law. They take a position that has by the senior journalists who had military support from special factions in Korean soci• censors in the newsrooms, telephone threats ety and is consistent with the Confucianist from government henchmen, imprisonment, social constitution. beatings, offices ransacked, and newspapers closed down. They developed a keen sense of The cumulative effect of the press club system survival and today have a tribal memory that is to dull the knife of aggressive journalism, anticipates the government's desires. Govern• the kind that American readers take for ment censorship has been replaced by self- granted in their newspapers. censorship, so the government statement goes into the newspaper, unchallenged, unques• The government has a captive club conven• tioned, and unfettered just as though it were iently tranquilized by tradition. The club a royal decree of the Choson dynasty. members value friendship above individual achievement. This virtually assures that gov- The press clubs also accommodate another

18 Confucianism Defies the Computer custom and it causes the most humiliation for often heard by foreigners: "You do not under• the media. It is the institutionalized accep• stand our traditions." They tend to agree that tance from newsmakers of ch'onji, which liter• soliciting money or favors is wrong, but receiv• ally means small gifts. Korean journalists are ing unsolicited gifts is another matter. aware of the world press criticism of this prac• tice. Their explanations tend to be emotional, There is a historical case to be made for the either in defending ch'onji or acknowledging practice of accepting gifts. It derives from the that the time has come to do away with it. Confucian mip'ung yangsok, the practice of reciprocity and mutual help. It is a venerated The general ethical standard of the American custom from the time when Korea was pre• press stipulates that the acceptance of gifts or dominantly a rural society where villagers and money from newsmakers constitutes a con• farmers would help each other.26 flict of interest. Depending upon the severity of the case, American journalists can face vari• Writer Yang Sung-chul suggests the system is ous penalties, including removal from a news not uniquely Korean but "common among beat, suspension without pay, a letter of repri• people leading agrarian and rural life-styles." mand, or being fired. If a violation of statutes Indeed, the custom of farmers helping each is involved, the individual may face criminal other plant and harvest crops is well-known charges. in the United States.

Ethics codes evolved in the 1960s and 1970s The conflict that the Korean journalists now in America when newspaper editors con• have with ch'onji and other traditional prac• cluded that they had a credibility problem tices is part of the overall society's dilemma in with the readers. In the first half of the cen• transforming from an agrarian system to an tury, many American reporters accepted the urban system, in Mr. Yang's view. "South Ko• so-called white envelopes or "freebies" from rea's fast economic transformation and ur• news sources. Such practices are naturally not banization have created a series of problems well documented and are best measured by such as urban overcrowding and squalor, traf• the strong ethics codes that evolved. fic congestion, pollution, crime, labor-man• agement disputes, regional and sectoral However, there was never much debate that disparities, generational conflicts and student accepting gifts or money constituted a conflict radicalism," Mr. Yang contends. While Korea of interest. The American media have not only has become an urban nation, the people still banned the contents of the envelope, but have have a traditional belief system or "habits of discarded the white envelope itself to avoid the heart," a term Mr. Yang credits to French even the appearance of impropriety. writer Alexis de Tocqueville.27

That is not the case with the Korean press. The very foundation of Confucianism is the There is a question of what constitutes a bribe family and unconditional filial piety. Inherent and what is a gift. Foreign journalists based in in this is the worship of ancestors, who Con- Korea tend to scoff at this alleged cultural fucianists believe never die since their blood dilemma, taking the uncompromising view lives on in their descendants. There is an un• that acceptance of money or gifts from a news• dercurrent of neotraditionalism that fears that maker is a bribe. democracy with its progressive characteristics will wrest Koreans from their most fundamen• The Korean journalists respond with a phrase tal belief.

77/e Conflict within the Korean Press 19 Thus, the Confucian traditions of rural Korea first came to public light in February of 1991 have not traveled well from the 19th century when nine people, including a presidential to the 20th century. With industrialization aide and five lawmakers, were indicted, and and technological development, Korea has subsequently convicted, for accepting 1.4 mil• shifted from being an agrarian society to being lion dollars in bribes from the Hanbo Housing an urban society in the course of the last 30 Company. years. Hanbo needed government approval to build Confucius is having a difficult time making a huge apartment complex in an area that had the transition. It seems the Koreans are deter• been designated as green space. The company mined to take the philosopher out of the coun• stood to make enormous profits if it could try, but they can't take the country out of the develop the land, located in Suso in the south• philosopher. The reciprocity and mutual help ern environs of Seoul. Demand for housing in of rural society have become the acid rain of Seoul is unremitting and through a unique the urban society, corroding almost all aspects real estate system, developers do not have to of Korea's modern life-style. It is especially build on speculation, a common practice in noticeable in education and the mass media, the United States. both of which held exalted standing in the elite yangban society of the Choson dynasty. In Korea, once the government approves a project, the developer collects up front the Park Heung-soo, a sociologist and dean of cost of the apartment, actually a condomin• planning and development at Yonsei Univer• ium, from the prospective buyer. It means the sity, a Christian institution, said Confucian• buyer must come up with the money, usually ism is dead in the context of the development several hundred thousand dollars, in advance. of the nation. He notes the rapid growth of It can be two or three years before the buyer Christianity in Korea.28 But Yim Young-jae, actually moves into the apartment. dean of international affairs at Dankook Uni• versity, believes Confucianism is still a power• Some mortgage financing is available, but tra• ful influence in Korea and will remain so. ditionally in Korea, a married couple will turn to their family for the required money. In a Most aspects of this intellectual debate tend to sense, the family rather than the couple owns be subordinated to the habits of the heart in the apartment, and some family members the newsrooms. Thus in the minds of Korean may also move in. At the least, they are always journalists, the matter of whether ch'onji is a welcome. gift or a bribe is a subject for legitimate debate. An editor in Kwangju said the ethical issue of So the developer has the money in his pocket ch'onji is another example of "Western pollu• before the first earth-moving machine starts tion of Korean tradition." He argued with to level the land. The only risk to the developer vigor that he could accept ch'onji and still write is bringing in the project at its estimated cost. a fair story. The prosecutor-general's office announced the But the small gift is no longer small. There indictments and followed this up a few days were three ch'onji scandals in 1991 involving later by saying the Hanbo Housing Company hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs to had distributed large amounts of hush money reporters and editors in Seoul. The most nota• to the press. The office indicated it would call ble was the Suso housing scandal. This story in reporters and editors for questioning.

20 Confucianism Defies the Computer Kim Young-sam, executive chairman of the on page 15. Another newspaper that some• ruling Democratic Liberal Party, following a times shows an independent streak, the Segye meeting February 6,1991, with President Roh Ilbo, owned by the Unification Church of the Tae-woo, said "there would be no haven al• Rev. Moon Sun-myung, carried a short front• lowed in the investigation of the scandal. Even page article on February 24. However, the two journalists can be subject to investigation."29 major national morning papers, the Chosun Ilbo and the Hankook Ilbo carried small articles This was more than two weeks before any well inside their pages on February 24, 1991. published accounts of the press accepting pay• offs from Hanbo. The exact amount of money that reportedly

''The alleged payoffs to the press started in September 1990.... The exact amount of money that reportedly went into reporters' and editors' pockets has not been determined.

The investigation of the press never hap• went into reporters' and editors' pockets has pened, or if it did, the findings are in some not been determined. One account estimated prosecutor's file cabinet. The prosecutor-gen• $55,600 was distributed among 60 members eral's office said the law governing bribery of the Seoul City Hall press club who repre• does not apply to journalists receiving cash sented 20 media organizations. from news sources. That decision let the media off the hook, at least legally.30 The Associated Press said $75,000 was distrib• uted to the city hall reporters32 However, talk Chung Tae-soo, chairman of Hanbo, report• persisted that some individual senior editors edly told prosecutors that he personally met received up to $30,000 each for keeping the senior editors. "I did those in the press quite a Suso story out of print. lot of good. But I am disappointed at the way they handled my case," he was quoted as A reporter who claimed personal knowledge, saying. but spoke on the basis he would not be iden• tified, explained how the money was distrib• The alleged payoffs to the press started in Sep• uted in the press club. The payment went to tember 1990. The account of the press involve• the club president, also a working journalist. ment was reported in considerable depth, not He then decided how much should go to each in the major Seoul newspapers, but rather in member taking into account the seniority of the Ilyo Shinmun, a Sunday newspaper.31 the member and the importance and circula• tion of the publication. Hankyoreh Shinmun, which professes to have a ban on accepting gifts or cash from newsmak• The public knowledge brought embarrass• ers, carried the first article concerning the ment to the media. Newspapers published edi• press bribes on February 23, 1991. It appeared torials urging self-examination and a change

The Conflict within the Korean Press 21 in the practice of accepting gifts. "Self-purifi• assessment was correct. The media's public cation" was an oft-used term.33 statements about the shame of the Suso hous• ing scandal turned out to be an act of contri• The Korean Newspaper Editors Association tion, asking the people for forgiveness, not urged authorities to make public any informa• prayers seeking the path to reform. Reforms tion they had on payoffs to journalists. The were not forthcoming. association also was critical of the press clubs. The reporters' union, known as the Journalists To assess how much money goes into the Association of Korea, also called for measures pockets of Korean journalists in a year is im• to stop bribe-taking.34 possible. Whereas Koreans have an insatiable fascination with statistics, measuring payoffs, Based on the collective embarrassment and whether they be bribes or gifts, is not a matter the calls for reform, the Suso housing scandal for public record. But there are several indica• would become the defining issue in ending tors of the magnitude of the payoffs and some the ch'onji custom in Korean journalism. Sen• rough extrapolations may be instructive. ior editors and junior reporters were saying as much in private conversations. Wiser words A 1989 survey by the Korea Press Institute came from one of Korea's most respected jour• reported 93 percent of journalists regularly nalists, a man whose courageous opposition received money from news sources. A 1990 to the repressions of the Park Chung-hee and survey by the Journalists Association found Chun Doo-hwan authoritarian regimes has that 75 percent of the 700 reporters respond• given him an honored status. "What counts ing admitted to receiving ch'onji. Now ch'onji here is the action. We have gone through this can come in the form of money, expensive before and nothing changes. Nothing will gifts, or even overseas junkets that include change until the senior editors enforce a pol• cruise ships and entertainment. The journalist icy," admonished Park Kwon-sung. association survey does not include the senior editors, who have greater responsibility for the Mr. Park had resigned in early 1991 as editor content of the newspapers. Typically, their of the Sisa Journal, a weekly news magazine. gifts or bribes are proportionately larger. Educated in England and at the University of Missouri and Northwestern University If the average amount of ch'onji is $1,000 per schools of journalism, he had established a reporter per month, that is $12,000 annually, formal code of ethics for the magazine staff. a conservative estimate in the face of the pay• off scandals that have become public. Taking Sisa reporters and editors cannot accept gifts that one step further by multiplying the an• and must even pay for their own meals when nual $12,000 by the 525 reporters who admit• interviewing newsmakers. They are given ex• ted in the survey to accepting ch'onji, the pense accounts, a common practice in Ameri• overall payoff is $6.3 million on a yearly basis. can journalism. However, it is not a common Admittedly, this is a shaky calculation, but practice in Korean journalism. there is some basis for this conclusion and, furthermore, that it is a conservative figure. "You are naive to believe the Suso scandal will Examples of the widespread practice of ch'onji change matters," Mr. Park told his interviewer. are: He went on to say that if senior editors are sincere, they would break up the press clubs • The Suso housing scandal payoffs to as but that too would not happen.35 Mr. Park's many as 80 newsmen allegedly amounted

22 Confucianism Defies the Computer to $750,000 based on another estimate from turn would take $70 (50,000 wtiri), place it the prosecutor-general's investigation. inside the cover of a new book, and present it as a gift to the teacher of their son.36 • A scandal in the Labor Ministry press club in which the club president solicited ch'onji The giving of gifts began in agrarian Confu• from newsmakers. Estimated "contribu• cian tradition. But it is now an urban Confu• tions": $85,000. cian tradition, and the difference between a • Nineteen of 21 reporters covering the gift and a payoff has become very fuzzy. The Health Ministry received $118,000 from rules have changed, but old habits make this their sources in one month. difficult for even the most thoughtful Koreans to accept. Even filial piety, the heart and soul • Reporters reassigned from a news beat to an of Confucianism, is under challenge by the • inside newsroom position get a special in• rapid transition to an urban life-style. Young side allowance, naekun sudang, to offset the people show less and less reverence for their loss of the white envelope. This can range elders. from 25 to 35 percent of their base pay.

• A gift of $140, which is 100,000 won, is quite Confucianism prescribes that wealth should common and given at traditional holidays never be flaunted, but flaunted it is in expen• such as Ch'us5k (Korean thanksgiving) and sive automobiles, jewelry, and trendy clothes, lunar new year. even to double-whopper hamburgers and large-size Cokes in the fast-food restaurants. • Some newspapers, established in the frenzy of media growth since enactment of the The grass-roots movement of the people, abet• press freedom law in 1987, are struggling ted by the government, has sought to curb this financially and expect their reporters to de• conspicuous consumption and flaunting of rive their income from their news sources. wealth and return to the Confucian ethics of These are not front-line newspapers. hard work and humility. This movement finds • While press clubs are the traditional and a sympathetic forum in the media, but it does most profitable repositories of ch'onji, the not seem to permeate the thin paper of a white culture and entertainment beats also have envelope. The envelopes are not moral-de- their system. Many art galleries, for exam• gradable and continue to circulate in all strata ple, consider a gift to a reporter to get pub• of Korean society. licity in the paper another cost of doing business. But "that everybody does it" does not immu• nize the media and education from public • A journalist who left a newspaper to take an disfavor. Both find themselves under uncom• attractive public relations position with a fortable scrutiny from inside and outside the well-known hotel then learned the primary national borders. Perhaps it is because they job was to distribute white envelopes to have positioned themselves as the moral arbi• deserving reporters. The journalist immedi• ters of Korean society, but in a way consistent ately resigned. with their yangban ruling class mindset. Thus • Ch'onji never dies, it just changes envelopes. the gifts and privileges they receive are worthy One reporter told of how he customarily of their station in society, but the same is not received payoffs and would spend some of necessarily true for the masses. it buying drinks for his fellow reporters. He would take the rest home to his wife who in Lee Kyoo-hyun recalled his earlier days in

The Conflict within the Korean Press 23 Mid-career Journalists Survey

FIFTEEN mid-career Korean the Korean press has been so was because of a feeling of journalists participated in critical of American policies. nationalism, and three said January 1992 in a one-week Five said it is because of a the government told the press workshop at the East-West strong feeling of nationalism. what to do. Two said it was Center. They responded to a Four said it is because of inter• because of anti-Americanism. survey regarding the Korean nal Korean politics of tradi• Shortly thereafter, Seoul press and its coverage of U.S.• tionalists versus reformists. switched its position and the Korea policy matters. It is not One said it is an anti-Ameri• deputy prime minister for a statistically valid survey, but canism view of Korean jour• economic planning resigned. the responses are of interest. nalism, and five said the The press also flip-flopped Eleven respondents said premise is an incorrect opin• when the government they agreed or strongly ion held by Americans. changed its policy. The re• agreed with a statement that In the fall of 1990, the spondents were asked why despite press freedom, the Korean government took a this occurred. Eight of the Korean media still follow the position in the Uruguay respondents said the press wishes of the central govern• Round of the CATT talks that made independent decisions, ment, particularly in matters opposed the American posi• four said the government sub• dealing with foreign affairs. tion. The Korean press pub• mitted to U.S. pressure, and Four disagreed. lished numerous articles three said the premise of the There was a split on the critical of the U.S. position on questions is a misperception question of whether the lowering tariffs and subsidies. of the facts. Korean press presents a The respondents were asked In summary, the journalists balanced view of trade nego• to select one of four choices feel rather strongly that the tiations between Korea and why the press supported the media follow the wishes of the United States. Eight government's CATT position. the government. Also, they respondents said no and Again there was a division of believe nationalism, rather seven said yes. opinion. Five said the newspa• than anti-Americanism, is the The respondents were di• pers made independent judg• more significant reason for vided when asked to select ments to support the press criticism of American one of four choices as to why government. Five more said it government policies.

newspapering and the character of ch'onji as a It seemed most reporters were always broke, gift. It is indicative of how it has changed in Mr. Lee recalled, requiring them to frequently modern-day journalism. "My newspaper had visit the pay clerk to get an advance so they a policy that no one could solicit money. That would have some money to take home. The was a bribe. But gifts of money, and they were newspapers were compassionate in advancing all small gifts in those days, were acceptable money, he said. and most came at the time of holidays," he said. "Reporters were paid very little, so they Ch'onji has closely followed the cost-of-living had little to begin with, but instead of taking index, or perhaps, more accurately, the qual- the gift money home, they would take all their ity-of-life index in Korea. The 10 and 20 dol• friends out for a night of drinking until all the lars of Mr. Lee's earlier days have added a money was gone. Then they would spend couple of zeros today and they come more their salary as well." frequently. A certain amount may go for buy-

24 Confucianism Defies the Computer ing drinks for press club associates, but more that is another matter. Some newspaper man• and more the money is used to pay for auto• agements have taken steps to end the system mobiles, televisions, tuition, and homes. only to be confronted by objections from the same reporters who previously had criticized The theory that if reporters were better-paid ch'onji. they would not accept money is not valid in this case. A five-year reporter on a Seoul news• Perhaps still bearing the imprint of the paper can earn $40,000 in pay and bonuses in authoritarian governments of the recent past, addition to all the white envelopes his pockets some journalists call for the government to will hold. This figures quite well in a nation step in and ban the practice. It is a dilemma in where the 1991 per capita income was slightly the best sense of the word where more and more than $6,000. more journalists are feeling uncomfortable. Many have had an educational experience in With that kind of money in sight, journalism an American university journalism school. In has become one of the prestige careers in most programs they get a heavy dose of ethics, Korea's hierarchical society. When a major much of it about conflicts of interest. Accept• newspaper in Seoul announces a job opening, ing money for news stories, or not printing up to 1,000 candidates from all backgrounds news stories, as was the case in the Suso scan• sign up for the comprehensive hiring exami• dal, is clearly defined as a conflict of interest nation. in any American newsroom.

There is one conspicuous deficiency in all this. On the other hand, there are journalists, par• Most newspapers do not give expense ac• ticularly on newspapers in the provinces, who counts to reporters, a common practice in the are not sensitized to the conflict-of-interest United States. Therefore, reporters must pay aspect. Writing a favorable story about a news• for business lunches, cab fares, and other ex• maker and getting a gift of gratitude in return penses out of their own pockets. The lack of is perfectly normal. "We did not realize there expense accounts is sometimes offered as jus• was a problem until foreign journalists told us tification for accepting ch'onji. This is espe• about it," explained one reporter who did not cially significant in Korea, where social rituals want to be identified. normally precede any business discussions. Payoffs, bribes, hush money, gifts, or whatever In late 1991, following the revelations of the they are called, are no stranger to American Ministry of Health scandal, the Chosun Ilbo journalism. Over the years, white envelopes issued guidelines banning ch'onji. The news• found their way into many a pocket. Written paper also issued credit cards to all supervising codes of ethics were uncommon in American editors for the purpose of covering normal newsrooms until the 1980s.37 However, even expenses for newsgathering. Furthermore, if if American newspapers did not have written reporters turn in receipts, they will be reim• codes until recently, there has been an under• bursed for approved out-of-pocket costs such stood moral code of accuracy, fairness, and as cab fares. objectivity. It is intrinsic in journalistic teach• ing. Texts assume these inherent charac• Despite the public apologia, the end of the teristics of American journalism and reiterate ch'onji tradition will not come easily, if at all. them over and over with idealistic fervor. However, there is a growing sentiment that something must be done. How to accomplish Indeed, many a beginning reporter becomes

The Conflict within the Korean Press 25 confused and disoriented when he or she first Democratic Liberal Party who occasionally air learns that these moral imperatives that were their differences in the press. All of this is in so clear and concise in an academic environ• addition to the senior writers and editorialists ment become fuzzy and sometimes honored who fulfill their intellectual yangban duties of in the breach in the "real world." giving critical advice as well as praise to the president. Korean journalists, like Korean industrialists, scientists, politicians, and culturists, want in• Mr. Roh has been called the mul (water) presi• ternational prestige and approval. This desire dent for not being decisive. He has even been puts their traditional practices in conflict with called a liar, and he in return grumbles about Western journalistic ethics, particularly the the sensationalism of the media.38 However, American. In some respects, they have placed Mr. Roh has shown far more tolerance of press themselves upon this moral crucible by this criticism than any of his predecessors. world-class ambition. Under the authoritarian regimes, the media dared not criticize the United States or its military forces unless the government wanted Anti-Americanism, them to do so for some political purpose. After October 29,1987, that changed. One newspa• Nationalism, Or What? per produced a series, generally but not totally favorable, on the U.S. forces in Korea. Also, the Today, the Korean press has all the trappings newspapers joined a popular campaign urging of modern journalism: high-speed presses, ex• the U.S. forces to relocate their headquarters cellent quality color, satellite printing plants, from their prime Seoul location. increasing numbers of newspapers and read• ers, business papers, sports papers, and most They editorially demanded a stronger hand for important of all, press freedom. Korea in the status-of-forces agreement with the United States, a pact that gives Korean Yet, the mindset that translates thoughts into authorities certain but not complete legal printed words remains primarily fixed in the jurisdiction over American forces. Also, they ideals of the ChosSn dynasty. There are indi• frequently have referred derisively to the so- cations of change, not yet in the fundamen• called big brother, little brother relationship tals, but around the edges. between the two nations.

Despite the general acceptance of official press The critical articles have the same charac• statements, there is criticism of government teristic as the government statements; they are and its major ally, the United States, in the all one-dimensional, and attributable quota• Korean press. Some of this originates with tions and statements are rare. The telephones middle-level officials who were educated in of American military and diplomatic officials the protest environment of the 1980s. They or of foreign businessmen seldom ring with quietly pass on their views to their former queries from Korean journalists. Efforts to de• classmates in the media. velop an everyday working rapport with re• porters has failed, but it is not only foreigners Opposition party leaders freely speak out who have this experience. There is no tradi• against government policies and this is re• tion of presenting a well-balanced story re• ported. There are factions within the ruling gardless of whose ox is being gored.

26 Confucianism Defies the Computer For most of the American presence in Korea soldiers, at the direction of an officer, shaved since 1945, this journalistic practice did not the boy's head, stripped him of his clothing, matter. The Seoul government controlled the painted him yellow, sealed him in a wooden media, and only on rare occasions would it box, and flew him by helicopter to an Ameri• allow the press to criticize an American policy. can army logistics base known as ASCOM City. When it did, the American embassy staff knew They dumped him. Later he was found by where to go to put out the fire and it was not other American soldiers, relatively unharmed. to the newsrooms but rather to the govern• He was turned over to Korean authorities. ment. The press was a pawn and the American diplomats were frequently arrogant and some• The story would offend anyone's sensibilities, times heavy-handed in dealing with it. but it also served the agenda of the Korean government, which wanted a status-of-forces One editor agreed to discuss such an incident agreement that would give it legal jurisdiction that occurred in the mid-1970s under the over American servicemen when they were in promise of anonymity. He received a Saturday civilian areas outside their bases. The United morning telephone call from a high-ranking States was not ready to turn over its service• U.S. embassy official who demanded he come men to a system that it believed was corrupt to the embassy that afternoon to explain a and archaic. Eventually, both nations signed a story that displeased the Americans. Con• status-of-forces agreement, and as recently as tritely, the editor went to the embassy, an 1991 the Koreans got revisions they had extraordinary gesture in its own right, where wanted for years. It was a matter of national he submitted to a severe lecture and the un- pride. subtle reminder of American influence in the government, a clear threat of sanctions But the most lingering effect of anti-Ameri• against the newspaper if it did not behave. canism dates to the Kwangju uprising in 1980. It revived regional differences in Korea and It is difficult to imagine the editor of the provided radical student movements with a Washington Post responding to a summons convenient whipping boy in their quest to from the Korean embassy or any embassy in destabilize the Seoul government. Radical stu• Washington, D.C. dents painted huge anti-American murals on university campuses, many of which still re• Certain types of stories could not be con• main. Their dogma claimed America was to tained. For example, incidents in which blame for all the country's ills, including re• American servicemen allegedly committed sponsibility for starting the Korean War in 39 crimes against Koreans resulted in sensation• 1950. alized stories in the Korean press. The infor• mation for the stories would come from Because of President Chun's unremitting con• national police reports. trol at that time, the press was little able, even if it was so inclined, to assess the impact of In the mid-1950s, one of the more spectacular anti-Americanism on the relationship be• stories was that of the "Boy in the Box." U.S. tween the two nations. soldiers of a forward unit caught what was known in those days as a "slicky boy," a petty During the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, American thief who would take clothing, small amounts military bases were on extra alert against radi• of money, or anything to sustain a livelihood cal student attacks. Several discourteous and in a war-impoverished nation. The American disgraceful nonathletic activities by American

The Conflict within the Korean Press 27 Olympic participants were played up promi• dence, and so-called public interest groups nently in the newspapers. The Korean public have been trying for years to limit access for was offended by NBC television coverage for Korean viewers to the American Forces Korea dwelling on some old, albeit, embarrassing Network, a television and radio facility for customs. American forces. Foreign journalists find ac• creditation and work permits take months for Meanwhile, the Korea press was extolling the approval. presence of the Soviet Union team and various cultural groups that performed in Seoul. Soviet In 1987, bilateral trade negotiations moved to literature was available in bookstores for the the center stage of American-Korean relation• first time in decades. Young people cheered ships. After more than 30 years of U.S. grants, the Soviets and booed the Americans in the technology transfer, expertise, and favored games. American culture and capitalism were duty-free status under the General System of under assault. The press followed along, ne• Preferences program, Korea had become an glecting or forgetting the role of American economic powerhouse. In 1987, it had a $10 capital and technology in the economic mir• billion trade surplus with its economic bene• acle that was taking place in Korea.40 Most of factor. Korea's brilliant technocrats were trained in the United States in educational programs fi• The United States had accepted Korea's protec• nanced by aid funds. At first, many did not tionist trade policies up to that point but then want to return, but now they are the architects wanted the Seoul government to open its mar• of Korea's extraordinary economic develop• kets to American goods and services. The Ko• ment. rean government took the position that it was still a developing nation and needed more Korea's young journalists, many of whom time for its economy to mature. The press were themselves radical students in the most coverage has almost unwaveringly followed virulent days of the 1980s, either were never the government line. What should be well- taught or have forgotten such details of the balanced news accounts almost seem like epi• American involvement in Korea.41 Occasion• sodes in a continuing morality play—a ally, a senior writer will take a long view of the rapacious American businessman trying to U.S. role in Korea, but at the risk of using the pluck the heart out of a 5,000-year-old culture. current jargon—it is not politically correct. Day after day, news stories contain snide buzz Visiting American scholars find themselves words deriding the pressure tactics of the U.S. unwelcome on university campuses and often government and entrepreneurs. The following have speeches or seminars canceled. USIS cul• is typical. On May 29,1991, Seoul newspapers tural centers around the country and the carried a story of almost identical wording that American embassy in Seoul resemble for• was provided through the YSnhap News tresses. Korean guards stand outside, suppos• Agency. The lead of the story said: "The Ameri• edly for protection, but their presence is can oil firm Caltex, even as the public remains intimidating. The libraries in the centers are suspicious about the U.S. role in halting the lightly used. The American ambassador is dis• direct barter of rice for coal between South and couraged from visiting universities to meet North Korea, has raised objections to its South with students because the educators fear dis• Korean partner selling diesel to the North." ruption. Intellectuals talk of American deca• The account went on to say Caltex protested

28 Confucianism Defies the Computer that the fuel is a strategic item banned by the further pointing out it was an internal matter rules of the Coordinating Committee for Mul• of Korean to Korean despite the fact the coun• tilateral Export Controls.42 try had been divided since 1945.

One newspaper, the English-language Korea Actually, it was a complicated issue and Daily, reported that Honam Oil Refinery, the needed careful explanation of the kind that is local partner of Caltex, denied that Caltex not normally seen in the Korean press. First, objected. "Caltex merely expressed its regret the government had failed to notify the that it had not been informed in advance of United Nations, as required, of the proposed such a deal," a Honam spokesman said. The barter. Second, since Korea has closed its own merits of the account notwithstanding, what market to rice imports, it is supposed to notify is noteworthy is the readiness of Korean jour- through the United Nations other rice-export-

*' . . . what is noteworthy is the readiness of Korean

journalists to jump on anything that is anti-American

without taking the trouble to get both sides of the story.;/

nalists to jump on anything that is anti-Ameri• ing nations that might want to bid on the can without taking the trouble to get both contract. sides of the story. This writer called Jack Sears, the U.S. embassy The barter of rice for coal mentioned in the press attache, and asked if indeed the United previous story followed a similar path. The States was blocking the barter deal. Mr. Sears press reported the U.S. government objected responded that the U.S..government was not to the barter, thus halting the initial shipment involved but that the U.S. rice growers' asso• of 5,000 of a scheduled 100,000 tons of rice to ciation had objected to the barter. Again, there North Korea for cement, coal, and other min• was no query from the local press, he said. erals. The story was attributed to an unnamed Korean agricultural source. When the Dong-A Subsequently, an announcement from the Ko• Ilbo published a major piece on May 5, 1991, rean government said American rice growers saying the United States was blocking the bar• had objected and it was on the basis of a ter deal, once again the Americans were the complex international agreement that allows guys in the black hats. all nations to have a bid at new rice markets. Eventually, the barter deal between the two Typically, the press made a morality play out Koreas was effected. Instructive here is how of it, stirring emotions by claiming it was a the press waits for the government to make a humanitarian matter of providing needed rice statement rather than aggressively seeking to the barren kitchens of North Korea, and complete information for a story.

•The Conflict within the Korean Press 29 Other typical leads on stories: States is portrayed as the heavy and much of it is with the blessing of some Korean govern• "Again bowing to pressure from the United ment agency. States, the Korean government plans to allow foreign shipping companies to start trucking There is a way for the other side of the story services in the country ..." (Korea Herald, to get told. Fortunately, or maybe it is unfor• June 13, 1991). tunately, these stories do not get frequent-flyer credits because they have to travel 15,000 "The United States has been ruthless in push• miles or more, all electronically, of course. For ing its demands in trade, intellectual property example, the American Chamber of Com• rights and other negotiations with Korea and merce in Seoul, which many Koreans believe

MThe effect of this journalistic practice of not going

to other sources for a balanced story is substantial. ^

in most cases, it has got what it wants" (Korea is an arm of the U.S. government, takes its case Times, June 6, 1991). to Washington, D.C. A Chamber statement is released in Washington to the wire services. The second lead concerned an upcoming The story is then transmitted to Seoul and is meeting on a new U.S.-Korean aviation ac• carried in the Seoul newspapers pretty much cord. It was the first paragraph of a two-part intact. series. The series did not contain a single quo• tation or a single name, but the details of the However, the Korean government is quick to Korean position made it clear the story came react with its own story that is dutifully turned from the government. in by the press club reporter just as he gets it from the official spokesman. The government On June 13, 1991, both sides agreed to a new story does not challenge the Chamber state• aviation pact that broadly opened the U.S. ment, instead it seems to suggest that a new market to Korean air carriers. In fact, the agree• program was already in the works to take the ment was generally lauded in the press. The sting out of the American Chamber's "com• advance stories outlining the Korean demands plaints. made it appear the Korean government had played hardball with Uncle Sam and pre• The American Chamber, commonly called vailed. Most likely, the American officials did AmCham, circulated a report on Capitol Hill not mind. in Washington on November 11, 1990, that the Korean government restricts market access The effect of this journalistic practice of not through numerous barriers. The story was going to other sources for a balanced story is widely played in the Korean press, but so was substantial. In article after article, the United a Seoul government announcement that it

30 Confucianism Defies the Computer had decided to take measures to minimize after the trade delegation left, all the illegal trade friction with the United States.43 goods were back on the shelves again and ready to be purchased at bargain prices. It is not the nature of the Korean press to independently follow up on such accounts to One reporter, who asked not to be identified, see if the American Chamber claim has any recounted an experience in writing an eco• merit or if the Korean government does what nomic story that, based on the facts, was fa• it said it will do. Thus no one need be surprised vorable to America and unfavorable to Korea. when the Chamber, five months later, makes The reporter anticipated getting criticism from the same charges, in addition to a few new the supervising editor and from peers, which ones, in a biannual report issued in Washing• happened. Another reporter, who also asked ton and Seoul44 About 10 days prior to the not to be named, recalled getting peer pressure release of the Chamber report, the Korean not to write about an American film distribu• government issued policy statements on tion company that was trying to expand its measures to ease trade frictions. The Ministry market in Korea. Both stories were published. of Trade and Industry said it was going to set up a complaint window system to handle Again it is necessary to understand the Ko• trade misunderstandings. Foreign Minister rean-American relationship in a Confucian Lee Sang-ock called for the introduction of an context. In the Confucian doctrine of the Five early-warning system between the two coun• Relationships, there must be between elder tries to prevent unnecessary friction and mis• and younger a proper order.46 understanding.45 In this case, the elder is the United States, This sort of routine goes on and on. One of the which has the obligation to wisely provide for U.S. government's many grievances deals with Korea, the younger, which in return must ex• copyrights and patent infringements. In the hibit respect and deference. Thus, the factual spring of 1991, just before a top-ranking U.S. case aside, there still remains in the minds of trade delegation was scheduled to arrive in the Korean people the perception that their Seoul for discussions on such infringements big brother should continue to help them. and other major topics, a story was dissemi• nated by the national police regarding a crack• This leads to an impression that Koreans are down on merchants selling domestically submissive to their superiors or greater pow• manufactured goods that violated U.S. copy• ers.47 History supports this impression, but rights or patents. Korean scholars, and most certainly the radi• cal student movement, have another view. The next day, a follow-up story told of the success of the crackdown. Given the Korean In a paper titled "Korean Perceptions of the penchant for statistics, the readers learned United States," Auh Taik-sup, a journalism item by item what was confiscated, right down professor at Korea University, asserts that to the number of Reebok sport shoes that seem many Koreans are shunning the traditional to be a favorite of the copiers. Generally, the role of submissiveness. The result is a nation police raids take place in high visibility mar• that functions efficiently but not always kets frequented by foreigners. smoothly. A great deal of tension exists among political, economic and social sectors. "In this What the readers never see is the next story, atmosphere of tension and conflict between which, if it were written, would point out that the affluent and the poor, the politically privi-

The Conflict within the Korean Press 31 leged and the underprivileged, Korea is now trying to define the anti-American movement experiencing a new wave of nationalism/' in Korea. One is the aforementioned view of Prof. Auh wrote, "which often manifests itself Shim Jae-hoon, Seoul bureau chief of the Far in the form of anti-Americanism." Eastern Economic Review and highly respected for the way he defied previous authoritarian Prof. Auh suggests that it may be more accu• regimes. That is that political and social devel• rately called "anti-pro-Americanism," indicat• opment has not matured at the same pace as ing a more nearly equal relationship of friend military and economic development. to friend. A similar view was espoused 25 years earlier by Whether coincidental or intended, the cur• Gregory Henderson in his book on Korea. In rent American policy toward South Korea also this case, the culprit was the 36 years of Japa• expresses this desire. Nowhere is this clearer nese colonization.48 "By forbidding overt po• than in the matter of trade. And the Korean litical activity, Japanese colonialism tended to media seem caught up in the vortex of this freeze ancient Korean patterns and political changing relationship. Rather than taking an instincts in the form they had taken by the independent course of informing readers of all end of the Yi Dynasty. When liberation came sides of the issue, they fall back on "habits, of (in 1945), the old instincts of uncurbed; atom-. the heart" and await the official statements. ized access to central power, part Yi, part de• rived from modern urbanization, were ready Prof. Auh notes that the Korean media, which to assert themselves," he wrote. had been stoutly pro-United States, have in• creasingly taken an anti-American position. Putting Mr. Henderson's hypothesis together Seldom do the media support the U.S. position with Mr. Shim's more recent views, the result on politics, trade, and culture, he said. is a nation that must reach back to the bedrock of the 19th-century Yi dynasty to set the foot• It is helpful to remember the contradictory ings and a cornerstone of democracy that character of Korea, readily accepted by Kore• bears the date 1987. Since the press is such an ans, but a constant vexation to Westerners. To integral part of this societal hierarchy, it too is the Koreans, the tune on the compact disc is wrestling with its past and may not fully un• an old folk song, but the Americans are hear• derstand why. ing rock and roll. All of these views point to something more Prof. Auh suggests that anti-Americanism, or complex than anti-Americanism or national• anti-pro-Americanism, may really be a mani• ism taking place in Korea. What is occurring festation of nationalism that is surfacing be• is a spectacular power struggle of the kind that cause of a struggle between the poor and the Koreans know best. It is the neotraditionalists, affluent. However, this theory faces a chal• locked in the mindset of the Choson dynasty, lenge from the emergence of the middle class challenging the progressives, weaned on mod• in Korea. As a people, Koreans have never in ern technology and economic theories of Ja• history enjoyed such prosperity as now. In• pan and the United States, the principal deed, there is increasing concern that the peo• influences of the 20th century. The guide for ple have started the celebration too soon. this struggle is the code of Confucianism, a social constitution that transcends all factions Two other opinions are worth considering in as the habits of the heart.

32 Confucianism Defies the Computer Because the press takes its cues from the gov• realized it could not afford it. Such a takeover ernment, whether consciously or subcon• would bankrupt the South's economy, in the sciously, it does not present a source of view of the experts. The government knew it independent thought for the public on this had a tiger by the tail in this highly emotional internal struggle. Thus, the royal decrees con• issue. The press, up to that point reflecting the tinue. If the government says the Russian bear enthusiasm of the people in the hope for is a fine fellow, the press says he is a fine unification, abruptly shifted to the pragmatic fellow.49 If the government says trade with view of the government that Seoul could not

//Because the press takes its cues from the government, whether consciously or subconsciously, it does not present

a source of independent thought for the public. . . . ;/

China is a good thing, the press says trade with afford a German-style reunification. China is a good thing. If the government says the Korean labor unions must ease their wage Only when the government adopts a policy demands, the press says the labor unions must counter to the Confucian social constitution ease their wage demands. will the press digress, again as a habit of the heart. Rice is part of that culture. Rice is more An excellent example of this is the most emo• than a field of grain ripening under a hot tional issue in all of Korea: the reunification of August sun; it is the embodiment of all that is the North and South. In a society based on a Korea. Thus if a government official speaks out family structure, nothing can be more painful that Korea must open its rice market to im• than the separation endured by Korean fami• ports of cheaper rice, the press reacts emotion• lies for 47 years. Aging must be taking its toll ally and stridently and the official finds a need in deaths, but the absolute cutoff of commu• "to clarify" his views. nication over the years can only leave families wondering about the fate of relatives in the The press tends not to write about rice and North. other agricultural products from the con• sumer's point of view. The stories, which ema• There was an understandable surge in hope nate from the government or quasi-official when East Germany united with West Ger• special interest groups, always dwell on the many in what coldly has been called the negative impacts on farmers. Generally, the world's greatest leveraged buyout. The Seoul people support this approach. "Buy Korean" is government sent a fact-finding team to Ger• no less patriotic than "Buy American." But many to see what lessons could be learned. American readers can get a variety of view• When the Korean government analyzed the points in their newspapers. Korean readers get cost of a similar buyout of North Korea, it only one.

The Conflict within the Korean Press 33 union has a veto power over top management A Few Wild Cards appointments. A business newspaper folded in 1989 rather than accede to the union demands It is an overstatement to totally ascribe the to control editorial appointments.52 predictability of the Korean press to Confu• cianism and the influences of foreign inter• The young journalists capitalize on every op• vention and authoritarian regimes. Those are portunity to embarrass the management and the power cards in the deck, but there are a few senior writers. An incident in the spring of wild cards still to be played. 1991 vividly illustrates this point. Bruce Cheesman, a British journalist, was covering One is the influence of Christianity, which is anti-government demonstrations on May 22, expanding rapidly and now counts 20 percent 1991, when he witnessed a woman set herself of South Koreans among its adherents. Korea afire. The journalist pushed through the is unusual among its Asian partners in the way crowd and vainly tried to douse the flames. the people are attracted to Christian religions. The young woman died. Because Christianity professes that all are equal in the eyes of God, it promotes egalitari- He wrote a first-person story for British papers anism, which is contrary to the hierarchical and observed that no Koreans had attempted society of Confucianism. How this will affect to save the victim from herself. The Korean the future character of Korea is a matter of press picked up the story, and senior writers speculation. There is the suggestion it can were moved to comment that the incident inspire individualism, a characteristic that symbolizes the moral decay of Korean society. would have a profound effect on the conform• However, a Korean television crew was at the ist practices of the press. same scene, and its videotape revealed that several Koreans in the crowd attempted to Second, Korea went through a baby boom save the burning youth. This brought an out• after the Korean War of 1950-53 just like cry from the young journalists that veteran America after World War II. The average age of writers are predisposed to accept anything a the Korean population is 29.50 Just like Amer• foreigner writes without question. ica in the 1960s, the baby boomers are rebel• lious, have been indulged by their parents, Embarrassed by the incident, the senior writ• and have known only security, a good quality ers elected not to point out the hidden agenda of living, and affluence. To the chagrin of their of the young reporters. That was their support parents, they have adopted Western pop cul• of the radical student movement that in• ture and have become Korean young urban cluded marching in demonstrations and the professionals or Kyuppies. union office preparing and distributing anti- government posters. Those baby boomer's who turned to careers in journalism are the young turks, always chal• One conclusion is obvious. Young or old, there lenging and intimidating management. They is no tradition in the Korean press for impar• got the full charge of radicalism in the 1980s tiality. It means Americans and American poli• and enthusiastically forged a strong union cies regarding Korea are going to be caught in movement that has achieved higher wages the cross fire of this ideological battle. U.S. and some remarkable work rules. The staff of diplomats in Seoul are aware of this struggle, one newspaper, the Hankyoreh Shinmun, elects but they are in a dilemma regarding effective its editor.51 At several other newspapers the measures to deal with it.

34 Confucianism Defies the Computer A third wild card is the role of television news, too early to say what that impact will be in both domestic and international. Though Ko• Korea. rea's television networks are closely regulated by the government, the news staffs have es• sentially the same freedom as the newspapers. More than 90 percent of Korean homes have television sets.53 But the nature of television The Last Word requires images for the cameras to focus on. This means showing real people with lips that Donald P. Gregg, American ambassador in Ko• move. Though far more reserved in their de• rea, says the press is like a jack-in-the-box that meanor, television newscasters have adopted has just been released and is springing about many of the styles of American television. in all directions.54

Government officials are seen and identified Song Jung-Jea, president of the Pusan Ilbo, the on television. Frequently, the cameras go to largest newspaper outside of Seoul, says, "We the streets to interview ordinary men and have achieved press freedom, but we have not women on major issues. Political talk shows achieved press responsibility."55 enjoy considerable popularity. It is a contrast to the newspapers, where the reporters still Kim Sang-hoon, chief editorial writer of the write with pens, do not identify the govern• Pusan Ilbo, who says he is the dean of editorial ment officials, and continue to cite the opin• writers in Korea, sees a lack of balance from ions of anonymous observers just like Dr. So's the "extreme right" before 1987 to the "left Tongnip Shinmun of 1896. extreme" after 1987. Perhaps that is a relative view since most Americans in Korea perceive The influence of international television is Korean journalists to be far more conservative more difficult to assess. The transmission by than their American counterparts.56 satellite of coverage of the Gulf War drew thousands of Koreans to their television sets. Han Jong-woo, for many years a correspon• Munwha Broadcasting Company carried fre• dent in Japan, later president of the Korea quent reports of Cable News Network along Herald, sees a continuing battle between man• with simultaneous interpretation. agement and militant unions controlled by radicals and leftists. Mr. Han is now president The Korean press had not been enthusiastic of the Sungkok Journalism Foundation.57 about the government sending noncombat- ant medical teams and making a financial Park Kwon-sung, a longtime prominent figure contribution to the war. While awed by the as both a writer and editor, predicts little military efficiency of the American forces as change in the press in the next decade. "There seen on CNN, the impact of global television will be a little more competition for the adver• also suggests more than a casual relationship tising dollar, but I am more concerned about to the press openly pondering an aggressive how the chaebdl [multinational conglomer• global policy of Pax Americana. ates] are buying newspapers.58

For a nation accustomed to strong central After four years of press freedom, the media control, the ability for each household to have have gained extraordinary influence in gov• direct access to global television news is bound ernment and with the public. Within the to have an impact on social structure. It is just ranks, the issues of responsibility, ethics, bal-

The Conflict within the Korean Press 35 anced reporting, and development of a mod• shall violate the honor or rights of other persons ern newsroom culture are all experiencing nor undermine public morals of social ethics. Gregg's jack-in-the-box effect. Should speech or the press violate the honor or rights of other persons, claims may be made for the damage resulting therefrom. As a result, these issues are having a significant impact on Korean-American relationships. 3. Scholars disagree on the beginning of Korea's recorded history. Some argue it is nearly 5,000 In summation, the fundamentals of the 19th- years, while others insist it is actually around century Chos5n dynasty still prevail today in 2,000 years. Naturally this report on the Korean press does not wish to get into that debate. the Korean press, modified by the influences of the Japanese, the Americans, and the 4. This view was advanced during a discussion, authoritarian regimes of Syngman Rhee, Park February 28,1991, with Korean journalists at the Chung-hee, and Chun Doo-hwan. residence of John Fredenberg, U.S. information director in Seoul.

These fundamentals are conformity in a hier• 5. "Avoid Unnecessary Trade Friction With US: archical society as decreed by Confucius; edu• Roh," Korea Times, December 2, 1990. cation by rote, a system that does not seem to 6. Frank Luther Mott, American Journalism stimulate individual inquiry and curiosity, the (Macmillan, 1964), p. 722. President Calvin vital tools of a journalist; and finally, the con• Coolidge never permitted quotes, direct or indi• tinuing struggle of neotraditionalist and pro• rect, to be attributed to him. Herbert Hoover gressive factions within Korea that have never established the presidential ground rules that, learned how to compromise since the mythi• with some modifications, are still followed to• cal Tan'gun founded the Korean peoples 5,000 day. years ago. 7. Such practices are not unknown in U.S. journal• ism. News magazines frequently offer a "kicker," or closing statement that is purely the opinion of the magazine or the writer. Game stories in Notes sports pages are replete with observations by the writers suggesting how the coaches might have better prepared their teams. It is a matter of 1. Lee Kyoo-hyun is one of Korea's most respected degree. American newspapers include many journalists. He has also served in government as quotes and attributions by name. Quotes and an ambassador and as minister of information. attributions in Korean newspapers are not com• His newspaper career includes being a foreign mon in government news reporting. correspondent and editor or chairman of various Korean newspapers. He frequently represents 8. Korean Overseas Information Service, A Hand• the Korean press at international forums. book of Korea, 8th ed., December, 1990, p. 497. Some journalism historians have selected earlier 2. The press reform law actually consists of publications to denote the start of modern news• amendments to the constitution. Article 21 pro• papers in Korea. However, these earlier publica• vides four basic guarantees. (1) All citizens shall tions were really royal court newsletters enjoy freedom of speech and the press and free• published on a monthly or occasional basis. The dom of assembly and association. (2) Licensing Tongnip Shinmun had a fair degree of inde• or censorship of speech and the press and licens• pendence, and its founding day is a commemo• ing of assembly and association shall not be rative holiday in Korea. recognized. (3) The standards of news service and broadcast facilities and matters necessary to 9. Lee Ki-baik et al., Korea Old and New: A History ensure the functions of newspapers shall be de• (Seoul: Korea Institute and Harvard University, termined by law. (4) Neither speech nor the press 1990), p. 246.

36 Confucianism Defies the Computer 10. To contrast with this period of press repression 18. United States Information Service, "United in Korea, William Randolph Hearst, E. W. States Government Statement on the Events in Scripps, and Frank A. Munsey were building Kwangju, Republic of Korea, in May 1980." newspaper dynasties in the United States. It June 19, 1989. was the beginning of newspaper chains that 19. Ibid. According to U.S. government accounts, gave considerable power and influence to Gen. Chun implied acquiescence on the part American press barons. of the Americans to all of his actions from the 11. There is a variance in accounts of this period. takeover of the government to declaring mar• Other historians indicated at least 68 dallies tial law. U.S. officials made personal visits to were established. In either case, it is a much the offices of the newspaper editors and pub• faster growth rate than since October 29,1987, lishers to counter Gen. Chun's claims. None the inception of modern press freedom. There dared to print the American version, even is a widely held view that the current rate of though it was available through the Associated newspapers start-ups is the greatest in history. Press. It appears that view is in error. 20. Shim Jae-hoon interview, Foreign Correspon• 12. Kim Dae-jong is an influential writer in Korea. dents Club of Seoul, May 15, 1991. Mr. Shim is He granted the writer a series of extensive in• reluctant to talk about his tribulations with the terviews in his office at the Chosun Ilbo in June, authoritarian regimes. However, he did say 1991. His anecdotes and recollections filled in that his subsequent association with The New many of the details of the difficult days of York Times and later the Far Eastern Economic authoritarian repression. Review, provided him with some degree of im• munity from government harassment. 13. The Seoul Shinmun is still the official govern• ment newspaper. In the mid-1960s, the Korea 21. There are exceptions now. Foremost is the Republic became a quasi-official government presidential press corps which covers the Blue publication, and later majority control shifted House. The Ministry of Finance also has an to private interests. There is an apocryphal open policy. story regarding the name change of the Korea 22. Michael C. Kalton, "Korean Ideas and Values," Republic to the Korea Herald. According to the Philip Jaisohn Memorial Paper, No. 7 (Elkins story, the president of the Korea Republic made Park, Pennsylvania: Philip Jaisohn Memorial a visit to the United States, where he had the Foundation, 1979), p. 3. occasion to be introduced to some American 23. Gregory Henderson, Korea: The Politics of the businessmen. They mistook him to be the Vortex (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, president of the Republic of Korea, and it 1967), p. 92. caused considerable embarrassment to all. Upon returning to Seoul, the president directed 24. David Broder, excerpts from speech, Jefferson the na me of the newspaper be changed so there Network, no. 5 (fall 1991), p. 4. would be no confusion in the future. 25. Shim Jae-hoon, "Watching the Watchdog," Far Eastern Economic Review, August, 1990, pp. 14. Lee ByungSoo, "Press Freedom During Korea's 24-25. 5th and 6th Republics," Sungkok Journalism Re• view, vol. 1, p. 15. 26. YangSung-chul, "Polemics And Foibles,"Korea Times, March 7,1991. One of a series of articles 15. Ibid., p. 16. describing the moral dilemma of Korea in ad• 16. Ibid. justing to a modern society. 17. Ibid. p. 17. By 1964, only 26 daily newspapers 27. De Tocqueville, while writing about America were publishing. Of these, the Dong-A Ilbo, and Americans, offered another theory that Chosun Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun, and Maeil might give Koreans pause in their evolution as Shinmun continued to oppose President Park's a democratic state. He said: "Thus not only press controls. does democracy make every man forget his

The Conflict within the Korean Press 37 ancestors, but it hides his descendants and Press Club of Korea, March 13, 1991. separates his contemporaries from him; it 36. Education has had its difficulties with ch'onji throws him back forever upon himself alone and the issues are similar. A "gift" to teachers and threatens in the end to confine him en• to take special care of a son or daughter is a tirely within the solitude of his own heart...." widespread practice. Somehow, the giving of 28. There seems to be a general agreement that the gift has taken on a ritual. The parents buy Christianity is the fastest-growing religion in a new book and place the envelope of money Korea though Buddhism is clearly dominant. inside the cover and present it to the teacher Accurate figures are difficult to come by, but with felicitations. the most conservative estimates suggest 20 per• 37. A 1983 survey by Ralph S. Izard of Ohio State cent of the population is Christian. Estimates University's College of Journalism, revealed of up to 30 percent have been given public currency. It should be remembered that Con• nearly 75 percent of the news media respond• fucianism is not a religion but rather a philoso• ing said they had stated policies. This compares phy. Therefore, Christians, Buddhists, and with only 9 percent in a.similar 1974 survey. others can readily subscribe to this centuries- Also, in 1974, only 30 percent of American old social constitution. newspapers with membership in the Associ• ated Press had policies concerning the accep• 29. Korea Daily, February 24, 1991. tance of gifts. In 1983, some 88 percent of AP 30. It also gave rise to speculation that an under• member papers had policies. standing had been reached between the press 38. Kang Sung-chul, "Press and President," Korea and the ruling party. When Kim Young-sam Herald, February 8, 1991. came out of the February 6,1991, meeting with the president and said even journalists can be 39. During the buildup to the Gulf War in early subject to investigation, it was taken as a not- 1991, the radical students were denouncing so-subtle threat that the press should not pur• the American policy and warning it could hap• sue allegations of presidential involvement in pen in Korea. the scandal. Since a presidential aide had been 40. Lee, Korea Old and New, p. 396. Between 1946 indicted, there was speculation on the extent and 1976, the United States provided 12.6 bil• of the Hanbo influence-peddling. Questions lion dollars in economic and military assis• were raised editorially about whether President tance to South Korea. Most of this came in the Roh Tae-woo had any knowledge of the deal, form of grants so that Korea was able to rebuild but nothing ever came of it. from the war and start basic industries and not 31. Ilyo Shinmun, February 24, 1991. be burdened by debt. Between 1953 and 1962 the United States financed about 70 percent of 32. "South Korea's Media Launch Internal Re• Korea's imports and 80 percent of its fixed forms," Associated Press, March 3,1991. capital formation. 33. "Probes of Journalists" (editorial), Korea Times, 41. Stephen Linton, "Coverage of the United March 1,1991, contains this telling statement: States in Korean Textbooks," a special study "The disclosure of the journalists' involvement commissioned by the United States Informa• in the multi-million dollar housing scandal is tion Service, 1988. Linton's comprehensive no surprise, as we have witnessed similar cases study of Korean textbooks at all levels of edu• more often than not. Nonetheless, it is discour• cation indicates criticism of the United States aging and deplorable to learn that the initial is kept at a minimum, but little mention is allegations implicating the journalists in the made of American sacrifices in the Korean War Hanbo scandal appear to be true." or the U.S. role in rebuilding the Korean econ• 34. Korea Herald, March 3, 1991. Article typical of omy. College materials contain more criticism many that appeared. of the United States and are more tolerant 35. Park Kwon-suhg, lunch discussion, National toward communism.

38 Confucianism Defies the Computer 42. The story was distributed by the YSnhap News 50. Economic Planning Board statistics for 1985. Agency, the semi-official government news Final data from a 1990 census had not been agency. released, but tentative conclusions indicate a slightly younger average. 43. Korea Daily November 11, 1990, two articles: "Seoul Restricts Market Access: AmCham," and 51. The Hankyoreh Shinmun is unique among Ko• "Gov't Agrees to U.S. Requests, Wants to Lessen rea's newspapers. It was established in 1988 by Trade Friction/' reporters and editors, mainly from the Chosun 44. "AmCham Attacks Overall Economic System Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo, who had been jailed or in ROK," Korea Times, March 19, 1991. This fired In 1975 during a government purge ofthe particular article, though lacking attributions media. Financial backing came from more than by name, was well-balanced with views of U.S. 58,000 supporters who, in effect, became stock• government and Korean government spokes• holders. The newspaper has struggled finan• men on the major trade frictions. cially since its Inception, but it has carved out a niche among young readers, mainly because 45. There was a flurry of activity on trade issues it challenges the Establishment. Its paid circu• during this period. Two economic ministers of lation is estimated at 600,000. It is called a the Korean government resigned, which the leftist newspaper in Korea and might be com• press ascribed to U.S. pressure. The govern• parable in its role to that of the alternative ment was issuing numerous press releases on weeklies that flourished in the United States in what it was doing to improve relations with the the 1960s. United States. The reason: The impending visit of U.S. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher. 52. Shim Jae-hoon, "Watching the Watchdog," 46. Kalton, "Korean Ideas and Values," p. 4. Far Eastern Economic Review, August 23,1990. 47. Admiral Yi Sun-sin, a military hero in Korean 53. Lee Sang-chul et al., "Satellite, Television and history for defeating Japanese invaders in the Images in Korea," Communication Institute, 16th century with his iron-plated "Turtle Chung-ang University, Seoul, Korea, and Insti• Ships," wrote in a cruel fashion about his fellow tute of Culture and Communication, East-West Koreans. "Among our Korean people, out of Center, Honolulu, 1988. every ten there are eight or nine fainthearted 54. Donald P. Gregg, "Future of American and persons as against one or two lion hearts. Even Korean Relations," lecture, December 11,1991, in peace-time, when a crowd of people hears East-West Center, Honolulu. In responding to some terrorizing rumor, they stampede to take a question, Amb. Gregg observed that he, per• the lead in a race from the scene to save their sonally, had been well-treated by the Korean own lives," he observed. Admiral Yi was killed press. in battle.

48. Henderson, Korea: The Politics of the Vortex, p. 55. Song Jung-jea, president of the Pusan Ilbo, 112. interview in his office, February 2, 1991. Mr. Song was once a presidential reporter in Chong 49. When Mikhail Gorbachev made his first visit Wa Dae, known as the Blue House. As president to Korea in April of 1991, the government of the Pusan Ilbo, he serves at the pleasure of a wanted a big welcome for the Soviet leader. At board that has government ties. the suggestion of the Ministry of Information, the Korean Newsapers Association sent out by 56. Kim Sang-hoon, interview in his office, Pusan facsimile to the newspapers several pro-Soviet Ilbo, May 23, 1991. filler items that could be used on the occasion 57. Han Jong-woo, interview in Foreign Corre• of Gorbachev's visit. A random sampling indi• spondents Club of Seoul, October 3, 1990. cated the newspapers were not much inter• ested. 58. Park Kwon-sung, a lunch discussion in Na• tional Press Club of Korea, March 13, 1991.

The Conflict within the Korean Press 39

THE EAST-WEST CENTER is a public, nonprofit educational insti• tution established in Hawaii in 1960 by the United States Congress with a mandate "to promote better relations and understanding among the nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States through cooper• ative study, training, and research."

Some 2,000 research fellows, graduate students and professionals in business and government each year work with the Center's interna• tional staff on major Asia-Pacific issues relating to population, eco• nomic and trade policies, resources and development, the environment, culture and communication, and international relations. Since 1960, more than 25,000 men and women from the region have participated in the Center's cooperative programs.

Principal funding for the Center comes from the United States Con• gress. Support also comes from more than 20 Asian and.Pacific govern• ments, as well as private agencies and corporations. The Center has an international board of governors.