News Media South Korea

Kim Tae Hong and Im Chai Kyung have managed to put out 12 issues of their underground magazine in the last two years by signing secret contracts with six different printing firms. "There is always the fear that the police will raid the print shop," Im said recently. Indeed, on five occasions copies of the magazine--Mal (Words)--have been confiscated. The printer "usually gets jailed for about a week," Kim said.

When Los Angeles radio journalist Richard Choi went to Seoul in December to cover the South Korean presidential election, he planned on staying no more than a week. Two months later, after his arrest and conviction for slander--and the international controversy surrounding it--Choi returned home Friday, weary from his unforeseen extended stay. The popular Radio Korea talk show host was jailed Dec. 19 after he broadcast a story about the rumored financial problems of a rival media company.

After decades of watching television programs that often portrayed him as a dangerous radical or Communist sympathizer, South Koreans awoke Friday to find every station broadcasting slick profiles that glorified President-elect Kim Dae Jung. What a difference a day made for the much-vilified opposition leader, whose first promise was not to perpetuate the political retaliation from which he has so suffered.

Los Angeles radio journalist Richard Choi, who was arrested in South Korea after broadcasting a report about the financial troubles of a South Korean company, was found guilty of slander Tuesday in a Seoul court and fined $1,800. "This has been unreal," Choi, 49, said in a telephone interview from Seoul. "Can you imagine this? I'm just a reporter doing a story and they arrested me and put me in jail. I'm very, very angry." He said he may appeal the verdict.

China has barred 16 South Korean journalists from covering President Bush's visit to Beijing this week, Western diplomats said Tuesday. The journalists, all based in Washington and accredited to the White House, have been denied Chinese visas. Foreign Ministry officials had no immediate comment. Western diplomats said Beijing apparently does not want to offend its ally, North Korea.

Partly because this suffering city is home to a large number of ethnic Koreans, media from South Korea are giving extensive coverage to the aftereffects of last week's devastating earthquake. South Korean reporting about Japan, a former colonial master and historical enemy, often is filled with contempt. This pattern was reflected in some early coverage of the earthquake, with comments such as "Japanese pride collapsed together with the Hanshin Expressway," in the daily Chosun Ilbo on Jan.

In a rare show of solidarity, Korean American and African American leaders in Los Angeles called Monday for the release of Richard Choi, a local journalist arrested in South Korea on Dec. 19. Choi, a popular news anchor and talk show host for Radio Korea, was arrested at his Seoul hotel and charged with malicious slander, days after broadcasting a story to Los Angeles about a reported business merger.

The Korea Times, whose suit against Los Angeles journalist Richard Choi led to his recent arrest in Seoul, said Choi intentionally broadcast a radio story that "caused irreparable damage" to the newspaper's parent company. Choi, a news anchor for Radio Korea, KBLA-AM (1580), was arrested Dec. 19 after he broadcast a story to Los Angeles about how South Korean media companies have been hurt by that country's recent economic crisis.

After long weeks of political maneuvering and rancorous, sometimes violent campaigning, the mundane tools of decision-making went out Monday. Trucks of the Central Election Management Commission rolled through Seoul and the South Korean provinces bearing the ballot boxes, poll booths, registration lists and ballots for Wednesday's presidential election. Here in the capital, after the last weekend of mass rallies, potential voters moved through the workday.

South Korea has bowed to U.S. pressure and agreed to remove most restrictions on the sale of imported cigarettes, which could cut their price by 76%, trade negotiators for both countries said Wednesday. Hwang Doo Yun, chief negotiator for South Korea's Trade-Industry Ministry, said the two sides also agreed to extend the talks one or two days to complete the negotiations on cigarettes, which had been due to end Wednesday.

Richard Choi, a Los Angeles radio journalist arrested Dec. 19 in South Korea, was released Wednesday from a Seoul jail but still faces criminal charges that he violated a Korean law prohibiting certain business news stories. Choi, 49, a popular news anchor and talk show host for radio station KBLA-AM (1580), better known as Radio Korea, was set free at midnight Wednesday local time. He was released on his own recognizance. Korean authorities retained his U.S. passport.

A candlelight vigil scheduled tonight to pressure the Korean Government to release imprisoned journalist Richard Choi may not occur because the Los Angeles resident could be freed before the event begins, a Korean government spokesman said. Choi, a talk show host based in Los Angeles, was arrested Dec. 19, four days after he reported rumors that Hyundai Motor Co. and a multimedia giant were about to merge.

The Korea Times, whose suit against Los Angeles journalist Richard Choi led to his recent arrest in Seoul, said Choi intentionally broadcast a radio story that "caused irreparable damage" to the newspaper's parent company. Choi, a news anchor for Radio Korea, KBLA-AM (1580), was arrested Dec. 19 after he broadcast a story to Los Angeles about how South Korean media companies have been hurt by that country's recent economic crisis.

In a rare show of solidarity, Korean American and African American leaders in Los Angeles called Monday for the release of Richard Choi, a local journalist arrested in South Korea on Dec. 19. Choi, a popular news anchor and talk show host for Radio Korea, was arrested at his Seoul hotel and charged with malicious slander, days after broadcasting a story to Los Angeles about a reported business merger.

After decades of watching television programs that often portrayed him as a dangerous radical or Communist sympathizer, South Koreans awoke Friday to find every station broadcasting slick profiles that glorified President-elect Kim Dae Jung. What a difference a day made for the much-vilified opposition leader, whose first promise was not to perpetuate the political retaliation from which he has so suffered.

Partly because this suffering city is home to a large number of ethnic Koreans, media from South Korea are giving extensive coverage to the aftereffects of last week's devastating earthquake. South Korean reporting about Japan, a former colonial master and historical enemy, often is filled with contempt. This pattern was reflected in some early coverage of the earthquake, with comments such as "Japanese pride collapsed together with the Hanshin Expressway," in the daily Chosun Ilbo on Jan.

The National Assembly voted Monday to approve the framework for transforming South Korea into a democracy. By a vote of 254 to 4, the assembly approved sweeping amendments aimed at stripping authoritarian powers from the constitution that President Chun Doo Hwan imposed under martial law in 1980. For the first time in South Korea's 39-year history, the reforms were worked out in negotiations between the ruling party and the major opposition parties.

When Los Angeles radio journalist Richard Choi went to Seoul in December to cover the South Korean presidential election, he planned on staying no more than a week. Two months later, after his arrest and conviction for slander--and the international controversy surrounding it--Choi returned home Friday, weary from his unforeseen extended stay. The popular Radio Korea talk show host was jailed Dec. 19 after he broadcast a story about the rumored financial problems of a rival media company.

A Japanese journalist is under investigation by South Korean authorities for publishing classified documents outlining Seoul's military strategy against a possible North Korean attack. The matter has become a closely watched case of press freedom vs. national security under the new civilian government of President Kim Young Sam.

Give the South Korean news media mixed grades in their first real test since President Roh Tae Woo promised in 1987 to "democratize" the country and allow freedom of the press. On one hand, it was a newcomer to the nation's media that recently made the key revelation exposing the country's biggest bribery scandal in years. On the other hand, the affair showed that many of South Korea's journalists were as guilty as the politicians and officials of taking payoffs.