(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 5 September 2001 WAN press release, followed by WAN’s 4 September press release announcing the IPI-WAN joint press freedom mission to South Korea: Paris, 5 September 2001 For immediate release IPI-WAN Delegation Meets Jailed Korean Newspaper Leaders A joint press freedom delegation from the International Press Institute and the […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 5 September 2001 WAN press release, followed by WAN’s 4 September press release announcing the IPI-WAN joint press freedom mission to South Korea:
Paris, 5 September 2001
For immediate release
IPI-WAN Delegation Meets Jailed Korean Newspaper Leaders
A joint press freedom delegation from the International Press Institute and the World Association of Newspapers had a prison meeting Wednesday (5 September) with three jailed Korean newspaper leaders who said they were innocent of the tax evasion and embezzlement charges against them.
The delegation met at the Euiwang Detention Centre with Bang Sang-Hoon, president of the Chosun Ilbo, Kim Byung-Kwan, joint owner of the Dong-A Ilbo and Cho Hee-Joon, who controls the Kookmin Ilbo, who were arrested on tax evasion and embezzlement charges in mid-August and jailed without bail pending trial.
“I found it very disturbing to have to meet with publishers who were put in prison by a government of a free and democratic country,” said Roger Parkinson, President of the Paris-based WAN and a member of the IPI/WAN delegation.
“I think it’s ironic that the President of South Korea, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is now using very sophisticated government orchestration to intimidate the independence of newspapers which, in fact, supported him when he was a dissident and in jail himself.”
Mr Parkinson said the three jailed newspapermen had expressed their innocence and said that millions of dollars in fines imposed on their newspapers would severely weaken the publications.
“This will have a severe impact on freedom of the press,” he said.
South Korean authorities have levied record fines and penalties of almost 400 million US dollars against 23 media firms following the largest single audit of any business sector, with an unprecedented number of National Tax Service investigators taking part.
Both IPI, the worldwide network of editors, media executives and journalists, and WAN, the global association of the world’s press, have protested against the tax investigation and jailings as an apparent government attempt to silence criticism. The delegation will meet with government officials, newspaper executives and labour organisations before leaving Korea.
Other members of the IPI/WAN delegation are Johann Fritz, Director of IPI, Bruce Brugman, Editor and Publisher of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Nils Oy, Secretary General of the Association of Editors in Norway. Mr Burgman and Mr Oy represent the American and Norwegian IPI Committees.
WAN defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 67 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and eight regional and world-wide press groups.
WAN’s 4 September 2001 press release follows:
Paris, 4 September 2001
For immediate release
WAN, IPI Send Joint Press Freedom Mission to South Korea
The World Association of Newspapers and the International Press Institute are sending a joint press freedom mission to South Korea this week following a tax investigation into South Korea’s media and the arrest of several newspaper publishers and owners.
The delegation, which is expected to meet with the jailed newspapermen, government officials, newspaper executives and labour organisations, will be in Seoul for a fact-finding mission from 5-8 September.
Both the Paris-based WAN, the global association of the world’s press, and the Vienna-based IPI, a global network of editors, media executives and journalists, have protested against the tax investigation and jailings as an apparent government attempt to silence criticism.
Bang Sang-Hoon, president of the Chosun Ilbo, Kim Byung-Kwan of the Dong-A Ilbo and Cho Hee-Joon of the Kookmin Ilbo were arrested on tax evasion and embezzlement charges and jailed without bail pending trial.
South Korean authorities have also levied record fines and penalties of almost 400 million US dollars against 23 media firms following the largest single audit of any business sector, with an unprecedented number of National Tax Service investigators taking part.
According to reports, prosecutors are planning to indict up to 15 more media executives this week.
“We remain concerned about the apparent political motivation of the investigation and its negative impact on press freedom,” WAN President Roger Parkinson said.
Mr Parkinson, of The Globe and Mail of Canada, is part of the delegation that also includes Johann Fritz, Director of IPI, Bruce Brugman, Editor and Publisher of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Nils Oy, Secretary General of the Association of Editors in Norway.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 67 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and eight regional and world-wide press groups.
