Press guilds slam shootings

The Korea News Editors’ Association and the Journalists Association of Korea condemned last week’s shootings at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris that left 12 dead.

It called the killings “barbarically violent” in a joint statement released Monday and said that they posed a grave threat to democracy.

The two organizations also pledged to give “strong support” for a united, international call against terrorism on behalf of free speech.

“It is not acceptable under any circumstance to target a media organization in a terror attack because freedom of speech and a free press are non-tradeable values that people have protected and nourished with blood over the course of mankind history,” the statement said.

The associations also added that they will stand shoulder to shoulder in efforts to protect a free press in the face of growing threats to undermine it.

[jkkang2@joongang.co.kr]