The Korean press endured truly difficult trials of political oppression in 2001. The concentrated, high-intensity tax investigations, excessive additional tax collections, and the arrest of major shareholders, all part of the Kim Dae-jung government's strangling techniques towards press that was critical of it, meant a total crisis. As soon as President Kim Dae-jung mentioned the need for press reform in his New Year's address, the National Tax Service, extending the deadline for its investigations no less than three times, spend 142 days in a dragnet tax investigation of news media companies. The Fair Trade Commission joined tightened the noose, and some press organizations started throwing rocks at those that were being oppressed.
Because of either wrongful practices or carelessness, press organizations may have problems when it comes to taxes. This is why they should not be exempt from normal tax investigations. The indiscriminate tax investigation we saw this year included tracing the bank accounts of families of persons working in the press, and it was a clear case of suppression of the press under in the name of "just taxation." As if the personnel mobilized and time spent on the investigation was not enough, fines reached close to W500 billion. Six press companies were indicted, and three major shareholders were arrested in what was an unprecedented yet clear attempt to tame the press to the government's liking and take it under control.
The press companies involved, however, did not give in to the pressure, and overcame the attacks and trials. In the end, the conspiracy to seize control of the press ended in failure. This was not so much because of the strength of the press itself so much as effort and encouragement of the people and the readers of each paper, people who believed the freedom of the press to be more precious than the freedom of those in power.
There were lessons learned in the adversity and trials. We became acutely aware of how news media companies truly must be more ethical and transparent than any regular agency or organization. We realized in particular that if a news company does not maintain absolute managerial transparency, it will become weak in its ability to engage in commentary.
The Korean press must be born again, and be more ethically upright than ever before. The freedom of the press must be maintained through accurate and impartial reporting, and without conditions. If the Korean press does not work to be even more accurate and even more impartial, then readers in 2002 will ignore the press that beat state authority in 2001. If it does not accept readers' advice, that it abandons its authoritativeness and become more modest; if it does not learn to speak of the dark areas in our society and those who alienated from it, then its hard-earned freedoms will be meaningless.
(December 31, 2001)
See our list of related articles titled
"Press Under Siege."
