The International Press Institute released its World Press Freedom Review 2001, Friday, which stated that worldwide there had been government attempts to prevent the free flow of information and suppress the media. The review said in various countries including Russia, South and North Korea, Zimbabwe, Colombia, the US, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan there have been threats to the freedom of the press. In Asia it noted that press freedom was often subordinated for the "national good."
With regard to South Korea the review noted that President Kim Dae-jung blamed the media for the drop in his popularity and initiated a politically motivated tax investigation as a means of silencing critical newspapers. It went on to state that alongside Sri Lanka, Korea was placed on the IPI Watch List when the prosecutors indicted 13 media owners on charges of tax evasion and jailed three pending their trials.
The review stated that Vietnam and North Korea had no press freedom, and in the latter's case the government controlled all media output. It added alongside Afghanistan, the two were the only countries that did not allow access to the Internet.
(Jeon Byong-keun, bkjeon@chosun.com)
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