Watchdog Wants Seoul to Declare Press Freedom

Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) sent a letter Tuesday to Kim Han-gill, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, to express its concern about the media tax probe currently in progress in Korea.

In the letter, Robert Menard, the general secretary of the group, said the tax probe is focused on media firms critical of the Kim Dae-jung administration. The letter said that the ongoing audit does not bode well for the "press reforms" recently announced by President Kim.

In the letter, Mr. Menard commented that such a tax probe could become "a real threat for the pluralism of information on the eve of an election period."

The organization asked Culture Minister Kim to state publicly that he supports freedom of the press. The letter also condemned "all pressure on the media."

Reporters Without Borders said it has watched the progress of the tax probe since March, and that its letter was written based on opinions provided by foreign news correspondents in Seoul. It also researched English language articles posted on Web sites of Korean news companies.

The group noted in a statement concerning the letter that government officials in Seoul said the president was a victim of "unfair attacks."

Reporters Without Borders is a Paris-based international organization devoted to journalistic freedom.

by Lee Hoon-beom