Expression restrictions, corruption are concerns in South Korea: U.S. report

Diplomacy

Published: 22 Mar. 2023, 15:51 Updated: 22 Mar. 2023, 16:27

Expression restrictions, corruption are concerns in South Korea: U.S. report

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

The U.S. Department of State expressed some concern over possible restrictions on the freedom of expression and corruption in South Korea in its annual human rights practices report.

In its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released Monday, the State Department said South Korea is a constitutional democracy, noting that observers considered last year's March 9 presidential election and June 1 local elections to be "free and fair."

It also noted that the South Korean government took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute and punish officials for corruption and human rights abuses.

However, the report noted that significant human rights issues in South Korea included credible reports of "restrictions on freedom of expression, including the use of criminal libel laws; government corruption; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence; and laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults in the military."

The report recognized that the Korean government "generally respected" freedom of expression, including for the press.

However, it claimed that the Korean government's interpretation and implementation of the National Security Act, the country's anti-communist law, among other laws and provisions, have limited such freedom and restricted internet access.

It went on to site President Yoon Suk Yeol's hot mic incident in New York in September last year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

It said that Yoon "stated that broadcaster MBC could put the country's security at risk by damaging its relations with key foreign partners after the broadcaster released a tape of what it reported as President Yoon criticizing a foreign legislature."

The report explained that a lawmaker filed a complaint against MBC with police, "accusing the broadcaster of defamation and disrupting presidential duties," and that a coalition of video journalists released a statement on Sept. 24 that they were "concerned regarding attacks and reports slandering video journalists" by the presidential office. It added that the presidential office stated it had barred MBC from boarding the presidential aircraft on Nov. 10 to cover an overseas trip because of its "repeated distorted and biased coverage of foreign policy issues recently."

On Tuesday, the State Department deleted a subhead entitled "Violence and Harassment" to describe the MBC hot mic incident, acknowledging that the description was not well-suited for this particular case.

A senior presidential official told reporters in Seoul on Wednesday on the State Department’s deletion of the subhead, "Immediately correcting the report means acknowledging that the report was not accurate."

The latest human rights report also said that the Korean government and public figures sometimes used "libel and slander laws, which broadly define and criminalize defamation, to restrict public discussion and harass, intimidate, or censor private and media expression."

As one example, it cited how police last August raided the office of a YouTube channel after Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) sued the channel for allegedly slandering the president's wife, Kim Keon-hee.

The report said South Korean government officials "sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, and there were numerous reports of government corruption at all levels."

Under the corruption section, it listed Yoon's decision to pardon Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, both of whom were implicated in a corruption scandal related to former President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2016 and eventually removed from office.

It also noted under this section the controversy surrounding the Daejang-dong land development scandal involving figures close to Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung.

The State Department announced as it released the report that U.S. President Joe Biden will co-host the second Summit for Democracy with leaders including Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on March 29 and 30.

Earlier this month, the presidential office confirmed Biden formally requested Yoon to chair a plenary session of the virtual summit. Yoon was asked to lead one of the five plenary sessions in a letter sent by Biden. This session is entitled, "Democracy Delivering Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity."

Other co-hosting countries are Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Zambia.

"Together, we will showcase the great progress made by Summit partners and the importance of working together to meet the many challenges to democracy," the State Department said in the preface of the report.

The State Department also listed North Korea's human rights violations in its latest report.

Significant human rights issues included unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government; torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment by government authorities; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; and total state control of expression and media through censorship and repression.

A letter sent by U.S. President Joe Biden inviting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to chair a plenary session of the second Summit for Democracy later this month. [YONHAP]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]